Story of My Life
by musicis4ever
Summary: A girl turns up in Smallville with a big secret and an interesting past. When she meets Clark Kent, they develop a strong friendship and find that they've got more in common than they think. He might not be alone after all. T but some M material later on.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville or the rights to. These are my ideas and my characters are the only ones I own. Also, this is my first fanfic so treat it well and absolutely no flames, only constructive critiques and pointers are allowed and friendly people :3**

**Chapter 1**

"Get up, dear."

"Daddy?"

"Run, sweetheart!"

"What?" The girl's dad grabbed her and put her in a seat on the plane.

"You must leave Ireland! Leave and don't come back! Lionel will take care of you." Her lower lip trembled as the door closed and the plane began to take off. A middle-aged man in a crisp suit sat down next to her. She was only 4 years old at the time. Sometime later she woke up in a strange yet beautiful mansion. The middle-aged man introduced himself as Lionel Luthor. He had a son named Lex Luthor who was a few years older than she was. He told her that she would be living with them for a while.

"Where am I?" She asked, totally confused.

"My dear. You are in Kansas," Lionel replied.

"Kansas?" She blinked at him. He smiled and nodded.

Scarlett Luthor gasps and wakes up. She is now 14 ½ years old. Lionel comes in, concern all over his face.

"Are you alright, Scarlett?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Her heart is racing.

"Did you have that dream again?" He sits on her bed. She nods in reply.

"Where's Lex?"

"He's in his room."

"Oh." She sits up slowly. Lionel kisses her head and leaves.

Scarlett holds the green stone bracelet Lex gave to her when she turned 8 years old. It was loose so she could grow into it. It's her favorite piece of jewelry because it seems to glow a strange greenish color even in the daylight. She wears it every day to keep Lex in mind wherever she goes. She looks at her alarm clock. It is 7:30 a.m. She decides to take a walk outside to wake up. She puts her long black coat and shoes on, opening the front door to go out.

"Where are you going, Scarlett?"

She winces then turns around with a quick smile.

"Just to take a walk, Lex."

It's no longer a surprise to her that he's bald because she's lived in the same mansion with him for 10 ½ years.

"Don't go too far."

"I won't." She leaves, shutting the door behind her. She opens the iron gates, then quickly dashes through and slips onto the grass. Lionel's car zooms out. He always has his driver take him to work at 7:40 every day, not stopping for anything or anyone.

Scarlett's heart hammers against her chest. Inching out, she makes her way through the grass, then finds herself blinking in a cornfield. I must have been daydreaming, she thinks. Walking farther forward, there's a red barn up ahead and an old fashioned house next to it. Curious, she walks over and knocks on the front door of the house. A kind faced red haired woman answers the door. She is wearing a tan skirt and a red sweater.

"Hello," she says, her voice curious yet gentle.

"Hi. Um I don't know where I am or how I got here. Would you mind telling me?"

"Well, you're in Smallville. I'm not sure how you got here." She looks totally lost because the next thing the woman says catches her off guard. "Why don't you come inside? We're just having some breakfast."

"Oh, I couldn't intrude."

"Nonsense, I insist."

"Well… Okay, but only since you insist." She shows her in. A brown haired man sits down, wearing a blue and gray plaid shirt and worn out blue jeans. A raven-haired teen boy Scarlett's age sits down next to him, wearing a red and yellow plaid shirt with light blue jeans. The man ruffles the teen's hair, lovingly. The woman clears her throat. The man and teen look up.

"Boys. This girl just came to our door. I believe she's lost."

"She can stay here until her family comes back for her," the man says kindly.

"Thank you so much, sir. I'm sorry to come here without an invitation."

"It's no trouble, dear. We're glad to have you here," the woman says to Scarlett. She looks at them.

"Oh, how silly of me! We're the Kent family. I'm Martha Kent, this is my husband Jonathan, and this is our son Clark."

"Pleased to meet you all. I'm Scarlett Luthor."

"Luthor?" The man (Jonathan Kent) asks sharply.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, dear. He's had rough times with your father in the past," Martha Kent explains.

"Actually, Lionel adopted me when I was 4 years old."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Mrs. Kent. It's a mistake a lot of people make when they first meet me… Who lives in the house across from you?"

"That's the Lang residence. They've lived there for a while. Clark, will you give her a quick tour?"

"Sure, Mom." He leads Scarlett upstairs and to the right. "This is where our bedrooms are. Mine's right here and my parents' is just across from mine. The guest room is next to the bathroom." He leads her into the guest room. Sunlight streams in from the open window. "The living room is right next to the kitchen, and that's pretty much it." She looks at the room, pleased with how simple it is. "Yeah. It's not much, but it's home for me."

"I think it's wonderful." He blushes a little.

"How old are you, Scarlett?"

"I'll turn 15 in a few months. What about you?"

"I'm already 15." She looks out the window.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. It's just that I can't remember how I got here from my place."

"You must have been sleepwalking."

"Maybe." She turns around to face him. He looks behind her, out of the window. "What is it, Clark?"

"Look. You can see the Lang's house from here."

She looks over her shoulder. "You're right. It's a nice view." She turns around again and Clark is right there. "Whoa! How did you-" He puts his hand over her mouth then moves it slowly down her face. Someone clears their throat. The person turns out to be a pretty blonde haired girl (wearing a pink long sleeve shirt and jeans) about Clark's age. They break apart quickly.

"So Clark, who is she?"

"Shut up, Chloe. We just met. I don't even know her that well."

"Says the boy who was about to give her vertical CPR." Scarlett bites her lip to hold back a smile, blushing slightly. The blonde looks at Scarlett.

"I like your coat, by the way."

"Thank you."

"Chloe, meet Scarlett Luthor. Scarlett, this is Chloe Sullivan."

"Hi, Chloe. Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you too, Scarlett."

They shake hands.

"Well, I just came over to say hello. I should go."

"No, it's okay. I literally just came here."

"From where?" Chloe asks, curious yet suspicious.

"What do you mean by that, Chloe?"

"You know what I mean, Clark. Girls like her don't turn up out of the blue in an instant."

"I know." He looks at Scarlett. She smiles at him as they lock eyes.

"Can I tell her something before you go, Chloe?" He asks, not looking at her.

"Fine, but be quick."

He turns to Scarlett, holding her hands in his. "Scarlett. I know-"

"Oh, sorry. I just wanted to check to see that Scarlett was alright."

"I'm fine, Mrs. Kent, thank you for your concern."

Clark looks at their hands still clasped and quickly lets go.

"Chloe, you dad's here."

"Oh, okay. I'll be right down. Bye Clark. Scarlett."

"Bye Chloe!"

"Bye Chloe, it was nice meeting you!" They wave goodbye to her as she goes down the stairs.

Scarlett looks at her watch. It is now 8:40 a.m.

"Are you going to stand there all day or come down and eat breakfast?"

"I'm coming, Mom."

"Scarlett, you can join us if you want."

"Sure. Thanks, Mrs. Kent." Scarlett moves to the top stair, but Clark grabs her left arm swinging her up onto his back. She closes her eyes and when she opens them, she finds herself in the kitchen.

"Clark, what just happened?"

"Nothing!" He replies a bit too quickly.

Scarlett looks at her wrist and gasps, "Oh no!"

"What's wrong, dear?" Mrs. Kent looks concerned.

"Oh no, no, no, no! He's going to kill me for this!"

"Who's going to kill you?" Clark asks, totally confused.

"And what for?" Mrs. Kent adds.

"Lex! He gave me a bracelet for my 8th birthday and I must have lost it somewhere."

"Did you have it on before?" Clark asks.

"I had it on when I went upstairs."

"I'll look for it!"

"Thanks Clark! It means a lot to me." He dashes upstairs.

"Don't worry dear, it'll turn up soon." The phone rings as Mrs. Kent says this. Mr. Kent gets up to answer it.

"I hope so," Scarlett says to her, while Mr. Kent talks on the phone.

"Yes, she's here… I'm sorry, who wants to speak with her? Oh." He holds it out for Scarlett. She looks at him.

"It's Lex Luthor. He's calling from the police station. He sounds pretty worried."

"I'll bet he is." She takes the phone, bracing herself for the outburst, "Hey Lex!"

"Where the hell are you, Scarlett?"

She quickly covers the mouthpiece. "Excuse me for a moment." She brings the phone outside, then puts her hand down. "I'm at some Kent family's farm."

"How did you get there? You said you were just going for a walk!"

"Yeah I was, but one minute I was two feet outside the mansion, the next thing I know I'm like a hundred miles away! I was so confused and I didn't even know where I was. But the Kents are a really nice family, and they're good people." A long pause answers this statement. "Lex? You still there?"

"Yeah. I was just thinking… Why don't you stay with them for a few weeks, since you like them so much?"

"Are you serious?" She asks, excitedly.

"Totally serious."

"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much, Lex! You're the best! Bye!"

"Bye."

She hears Lex hang up the phone then she follows suit. She goes back inside, beaming.

"So what did he say?"

"He said I could stay for a couple of weeks."

"That's great news! Clark will be so happy when he hears this!"

"I'll go tell him now, if you want Mrs. Kent."

"Go ahead, dear." Scarlett runs up the stairs.

She searches all the rooms, then sees Clark fall to the floor in his room.

"Clark?" She gets closer and sees that he's shaking. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? Clark!"

"Help me…" His voice is barely louder than a whisper. Her bracelet is next to his head. She takes it and puts it on his bed. He stops shaking, and lies still.

"Clark? Can you hear me?" His eyes remain closed. "No, no, no! Don't do this to me. Come on, wake up!" She holds his head in her hands. Still, he doesn't open his eyes. "Stay with me, Clark. Please." A tear slides down her cheek and hits his forehead. Another follows, and then his eyes open.

His breathing comes back in gasps, just as a loud gunshot rings through the morning air.

"Thank goodness!" She holds him close. She hears footsteps running up the stairs and entering Clark's room.

"Is everyone alright?"

"Yes, Mr. Kent."

"We're just fine, dad."

"We heard a gunshot."

She releases Clark. He looks at her and she shrugs.

"Wasn't me."

"Wasn't me either," Clark says in confusion.

"Then who was it?" Mrs. Kent asks.

"Good question," Scarlett replies as Clark helps her get up. She hears receding footsteps from outside.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: First, and foremost, thanks to all those that have endured with my writing. Also thanks to KelseyHalliwell for adding my fanfic to her favorites! Please review because I would love to hear any thoughts, questions, comments, concerns, critics, or compliments! Thanks a bunch and I apologize about the update delay. I decided to make it easier to understand, so it's not in Scarlett's P.O.V. anymore. Don't hate me for this. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

After Clark and his parents leave, Scarlett holds her bracelet close to her heart. Mrs. Kent gave her a change of clothes before they left. As she changes, she thinks about the meadow where Lex and she sat down in, just counting the stars. She was 10 when that happened. Suddenly, she feels something beneath her feet that isn't the floor. She opens her eyes and lets out a loud scream. Quick footsteps come up the stairs, again.

"What- Oh my gosh!" Mrs. Kent's eyes grow wide. Scarlett is standing shakily in the grass meadow with flowers everywhere. My meadow is in my room!

"I swear I have no idea what happened here, Mrs. Kent. I just pictured this meadow in my head because I still remember it when I'm happy. Then this."

"Whoa. What happened?" Mr. Kent and Clark ask as they come up the stairs and into her room.

"I don't know. Ask Scarlett."

"Scarlett, same question." Mr. Kent looks at her.

"I honestly don't know Mr. Kent. I just thought about a meadow I was at when I was 10 years old and sorta concentrated on that. When I opened my eyes, it just appeared here!" The Kents look at one another.

"I know it sounds crazy, but that's the truth. Every word of it, I promise."

"I believe you, Scarlett." Mrs. Kent says to the distressed teen.

"So do I. Clark?"

"I believe her too, dad. Plus, it does brighten up the room."

Scarlett smiles, partly from relief and partly from happiness.

"Now that is a beautiful smile you've got, Scarlett."

"Thanks, Mr. Kent."

"You'd better watch over her, Clark, or someone will take her from us." Mr. Kent teases his son.

"Dad, that won't happen!"

"Don't be too sure about that."

Scarlett must look quite absentminded because Mrs. Kent asks her, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just- Well, I haven't been in this meadow for over 4 years. It was littered with people's cigarettes and dead bird's blood, last year when I visited it. I guess I remembered a clean meadow."

"Wow. You failed to mention that!" Scarlett laughed out loud at Clark's remark, along with his parents.

"Oh my gosh, we still need to eat breakfast! Come on Clark, Jonathan. Scarlett, you look dead on your feet. Come join us."

"Okay, Mrs. Kent." Clark grabs Scarlett and pulls her out of her meadow room. The next thing she knows, she's sitting at the breakfast table.

"Clark!"

"What?" He asks, innocently. She glares at him, then remembers something.

"Didn't you want to ask me something, Clark?"

"Oh, well… I was just wondering if you'd like to go-" He pauses, noticing his parents looking at him. "-to the Beanery with Chloe, Pete, and me?"

"I don't know who Pete is, but I'd love to!"

"Great! We'll go after school today."

"Sounds good to me!"

"Eat, both of you!"

"Yes, ma'am." Clark and Scarlett mutter under their breath.

"That was a great breakfast, Clark!"

"I'm sure you get better food at your mansion."

"Actually, that was the best breakfast I've ever had!"

"You don't get out much, do you?"

"Not really, no."

Clark and Scarlett are walking to the bus stop as they're talking.

"If you don't mind me asking, where were you born? In Kansas?" Clark asks her, curious.

"No. I was born in Ireland, actually. What about you?"

"I don't really know."

"What do you mean?"

Clark doesn't answer.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. I have a secret and I was just contemplating whether or not to tell it to you." They stop at the end of the wooden fence.

"If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. I can wait until you feel ready. Besides we just met like 3 hours ago." She smiles at him.

"True."

The bus rolls around a corner, then screeches to a stop. Clark lets Scarlett get on first. They find their seats near the back of the bus, and end up sitting next to each other.

Across the aisle Chloe and someone Scarlett couldn't see are sitting exchanging money. No one pays them any attention, until the bus arrives at the high school. Scarlett and Clark make their way off the bus, and then people start to come to them. First is Chloe and the person Scarlett didn't see.

"Hey! We thought we saw you two!"

"Congratulations, Clark! You actually made it to the bus on time," the teen says.

"Thanks a lot, Pete."

"Oh, so you're Pete?" Scarlett asks of the teen boy.

"Yeah. Pete Ross." The African American boy in blue jeans and a brown jacket smiles at her. "I'm Scarlett. Scarlett Luthor." (A/N: I had to make it seem sorta real, so there are descriptions of what people look like and what they're wearing. Sorry if it makes people frustrated. Most of the time, you have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks. )

They shake hands. A group of boys in Smallville Crows letter jackets come over.

"Uh-oh. Here comes your welcoming committee." Chloe says, sarcastically.

"Move over, Blondie. We want to talk to the new girl." The boy who spoke has blonde hair, blue eyes, a bossy kind of voice, and is wearing jeans.

"Fine, Whitney."

Scarlett looks at Chloe in semi-surprise. Chloe doesn't seem like the girl who backs down easily.

"Let's go, Pete."

"Leaving anyways. See you later, Scarlett."

"Bye, Scarlett!"

"Bye guys, and Chloe!"

"Guys is fine for me," she replies.

"Alright then. See ya!" Scarlett waves goodbye to them.

"Hey, Fordman! You comin'?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be right there, guys!"

"So, you're Whitney Fordman?"

"Yeah. You are?"

"Scarlett Luthor. I'm new here, as you may have guessed."

"Do you need help being shown around town?"

"Look, this is really sweet of you and all, but I just need to get my head on straight before I think about that."

"You mean Kent's shown you around already?" He sounds disappointed.

"Basically, yes."

A bell rings.

"Well, I should get going… See you around, Scarlett." She nods. Clark walks towards her, after Whitney leaves.

"Met Whitney, have you?"

"Yeah… He's okay, I guess." Scarlett doesn't really know what to think of anyone.

"Shall we, Miss Luthor?"

"We shall, Mr. Kent." They walk towards the school, Clark slightly ahead of Scarlett. A pretty raven-haired girl in a light blue long-sleeve shirt and jeans smiles at him, as they pass by. Scarlett sees Clark tense up, and fall to the ground.

"Oh my gosh!" She sits next to him, as does the raven-haired girl in blue.

"Is he okay?" The girl asks, concern in her gentle voice.

"Lana! There you are- Whoa, what happened to Kent?"

"I don't know, Whitney."

"Please start calling him Clark. It sounds nicer." Scarlett says, putting her head on Clark's chest. His heart slows down.

"I'll get the nurse!" Whitney says to her.

"Better hurry." She hears him run down the hallway.

"What's the holdup, here?" A male voice slices through the air like a knife. The crowd parts quickly, and quiets down. Loud footsteps echo down the hall. The owner of the knife like voice is a kind looking, brown haired, brown-eyed man in a black suit with a white shirt underneath and a red tie around his neck. He looks a little stout, but otherwise very handsome. "Miss Lang, what's the meaning of this?"

"Mr. Jaze, I-" Whitney returns with the nurse and some other teachers, cutting Lana off.

"How is he?" The blonde haired thirty something year old nurse asks of Scarlett.

"He has a slow pulse and he's stopped breathing. I think he's dying or something."

"Call Smallville Medical Center, Stan." The nurse says to the nearest brunette man in a blue suit.

"On it, Mary." Stan whips out his cell phone and dials a number. Lana and Scarlett stay with Clark until the ambulance arrives.

"Miss Lang, go to class now."

"Yes, Mr. Jaze." (A/N: BTW, remember Mr. Jaze. He comes in later and he's very important!)

She gets up and leaves as Clark gets put on a stretcher.

"Mr. Jaze, may I stay with him?"

"If you wish, Miss…?"

"Luthor. Scarlett Luthor."

"Miss Luthor?"

"That's me."

"As in Lionel Luthor?"

"Yeah."

"Did he send you down here to review our school?"

"No. He doesn't know I'm at this school. And he doesn't need to know, either." Scarlett is mainly talking about Lex, not Lionel.

"Well, we better get going. Are you coming, Miss Luthor?" One of the E.M.T.'s asks her.

"Right away, sir." She gets in the ambulance.

During the ambulance ride, Clark doesn't seem to be getting any better.

"Clark, please don't die on me." Scarlett feels her heart hurting.

"Miss Luthor, please step aside." An E.M.T. gently nudges her away from Clark.

"Wait." She takes the E.M.T.'s head in her light tan hands.

"Davis?"

"Yes. That's my name."

"It's me. Letty." His eyes widen and they embrace quickly.

"You should look after your patient. We'll catch up later." Scarlett says, feeling slightly better. Clark moves his fingers.

"He's still alive, but barely."

"He's better than before, though."

"What do you mean, Letty?"

"I mean that he's breathing." Sure enough, he is.

"You must have a life giving quality." Davis smiles playfully at her.

"You know I do. Remember when you fell in that field and I kissed you then you claimed you were fine?"

"Yeah. Good times." She laughs a little at the memory.

"So… Don't you have a job to do, Mr. Bloom?"

"Right. Um…" Scarlett moves out of his way. By the time the ambulance stops at the Medical Center, Clark is semi-conscious. The doors open and he's put on a stretcher again.

"Please wait in the waiting room, Miss Luthor." Davis looks uneasy as he says this. She nods in reply.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys and girls… I just wanted to say that if you were mad about the paragraph thing, I tried my best to fix it. This fanfic is dedicated to KelseyHalliwell because she's the only one that's bothered to review it. Love ya, girl! I also need to clarify that I do not own Smallville or the characters, just my own. Also, I created my own conversations. If there's some dialogue from the show, just know that it isn't my own. Bear with me a little longer, people. Please review to show you care.**

**Chapter 3**

About fifteen minutes later, Davis comes out of the ER.

"How is he?" Scarlett looks at him in concern.

"He's…"

Clark walks out of the ER.

"Completely recovered." Scarlett sighs in relief and jumps into Clark's arms.

"I thought you were dead!"

"So did I. For a moment." He sets her down.

"Thank you, Scarlett."

"Don't thank me. Davis was the one who saved you. As well as Whitney and Lana. They were there with me and called the ambulance. I really didn't do anything."

"You stayed with him. Actually insisted on it too."

Scarlett raises her eyebrow at Davis.

"Well, it's true."

She rolls her brown eyes, but smiles.

As Clark and Scarlett walk back to the farm, they don't say very much.

"You really stayed with me?"

"Out of all the conversation, you remember that?"

"Well, yeah." She gently nudges him with her shoulder.

"If you must know, yes. I didn't want to leave you alone. I needed to make sure they didn't poison you. Although…" She stops right in front of the barn.

"Although what?"

"I don't know much about you." She faces him.

He shifts from side to side, slightly uncomfortably.

"My life story is pretty long." By this time, they are inside the barn. Scarlett sits on a bale of hay.

"I've got a long story, too."

"Why don't I simplify my story?"

"No, it's okay. I can handle a long story." Clark smiles and sits next to her.

"Alright. Well, the meteor shower didn't give me any powers. I actually came with the meteors." He pauses, looking at Scarlett.

"You mean you're an alien?"

"It sounds completely crazy, but it's true."

"What planet do you come from?"

"I don't know."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm being totally honest with you. I've never confided this with anyone besides my parents."

"I'm touched that you trust me so much."

"I feel like I can." She smiles at him, again.

"So… If you're really from another planet, do you have any super space alien powers?"

"I'm still getting them. But I can do this…" Clark lifts Scarlett and the bale of hay up with one hand. She gasps in shock and awe.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" She pauses.

"Now put me back down, please." He does as she asks.

"Awesome!" He smiles at her.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?" He asks her, confused.

"You smile with your mouth, but your eyes are crying."

"What do you mean?"

"You seem happy on the outside, Clark. But on the inside, you're sad and feel alone. It must be awful for you to have all those feelings bottled up inside. How can you bear it?"

"I don't know. I've never thought about it before until you mentioned it now." She wipes away a stray tear off his cheek, gently.

"Everything's going to be fine." He smiles at her, his eyes still sad.

"Clark, can I trust you?"

"Of course." They walk out of the barn.

"Okay… When I was 8 years old, Lex gave me this bracelet," She shows it to Clark briefly.

"It was the very first thing he gave to me. Two years later, we started a little relationship. It didn't last for very long, and we broke it off. We've been best friends ever since."

"Why did you break it off?"

"It was too awkward."

"Is that all of your secret?"

"Actually, it's not. When the meteor shower hit, I was walking with Lex in a cornfield. We got separated and I woke up one morning with a strange feeling. As the years went by, I noticed that if I think about something that has to do with nature, it comes to me. That is, if I really concentrate on it."

"Like the meadow?" Scarlett nods in response. By now, they're outside of the Beanery.

"So, I'm guessing school's out?" Clark asks. Before she can respond, Chloe appears practically out of thin air.

"There you guys are! We were so worried about you!" She embraces both Clark and Scarlett.

"Easy, Chloe. We're not back from the dead," Clark says to her, slightly out of breath.

"Who's 'we'?" Scarlett asks, curiosity all over her face.

" 'We' is Pete, me, Lana and Whitney. And Nell."

"Who?"

"Oh, Nell is Lana's aunt."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Nice…" Scarlett remembers something.

"Clark, didn't you want to take me somewhere?"

"What? Oh! The Beanery." He clears his throat.

"Okay, let's go then." Scarlett pulls Chloe aside.

"Is he always like this?" She whispers in her ear.

"Pretty much all the time. Plus he disappears a lot."

"What are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing!" They chorus together, then giggle. Clark looks confused.

The girls arrive at The Beanery, laughing and talking.

"You're serious, Scarlett? He did that to you?" Chloe asks, smiling.

"Well, he tried. I can't help, but sorta wish it worked. He was so adorable."

"I'll bet he was."

"Hey, Pete!" Scarlett and Chloe say together.

"Hey, Chloe and Scarlett. Where's Clark?" They look behind them.

"He was right there like two minutes ago."

"There he is," Scarlett smiles and points outside of The Beanery.

"How did he get there?"

"I don't know."

"That's strange."

"What's strange?" Clark asks, a confused look on his face.

"Nothing!" The other three reply. Lana comes in, wearing a white coat and jeans. Whitney follows her, wearing his Smallville Crows coat and light blue jeans. Chloe elbows Clark in the ribs.

"Look who's here." Lana waves at Clark, smiling. He smiles back at her.

"So… Who exactly is Lana Lang?"

"Clark's crush since forever."

"I'm guessing Whitney's her boyfriend?"

"Yup."

"Hey, Clark!"

"Oh. Hi Lana. And Whitney. This is Scarlett Luthor. She's new here and I offered to show her around." Scarlett looks at Clark, but decides to just go with it.

"He's been so nice to me. It's like he came out of nowhere and saved me." She smiles at him.

He blushes, "Well, that's-"

"Oh don't be so modest, Clark! You'd help a total stranger get back on their feet in a heartbeat."

"Anyway… So, you'll be shadowing me until you get comfortable with the school."

"Okay!"

"Let's order!" Chloe suggests. Lana smiles at Whitney, while Pete looks at Clark.

"So, what did you think of The Beanery?" Pete asks Scarlett, 10 minutes later as they walk to school.

"They have really good hot chocolate!"

"You ordered, like, 5 of them."

"Your point being?"

"It's like you've never had hot chocolate before."

"I haven't. Just coffee."

"Oh my gosh, you poor baby! You've been deprived!" Chloe says, shocked.

"Have you ever had marshmallows?" Clark asks. Scarlett shakes her head in response.

"Oh my gosh!" Chloe repeats, in the same shocked tone.

"You've never had marshmallows?" Pete asks.

"I know, I know. I've never had hot chocolate, marshmallows, popcorn, soda, smoothies, frozen yogurt, or ice cream. Well, now I've had hot chocolate. I must be a total freak to you."

"I don't think you're a freak."

"Thanks Clark."

"I don't think you're a freak either."

"Thanks, Pete."

"Wait a sec… Did you say you've never had ice cream?"

"Yeah."

"Clark, Pete. Next week we're going to get ice cream and see a movie. For this girl's sake."

"Awesome!" The boys chorus together.

"What movie do you want to see, Scarlett?" Chloe asks.

"I don't know."

"Do you have a favorite movie?" Clark asks, facing Scarlett. She shrugs in response.

"You've never seen a movie?"

"Nope. The only media I grew up with was classical and opera music, books, and newspapers. Also, action figures for some weird reason."

"Why haven't you seen television before?" Scarlett slows down, distracted.

"To be honest, Lionel doesn't want me to become a movie robot. And I never asked why."

"What does he keep you in? A mansion or a closet?" Chloe asks, slightly amused.

"I ask myself the same question everyday. But he started letting me out of the mansion when I was 10. That was when Lex and I… Oh look, it's the flower truck!" Scarlett runs to the pick up truck with all kinds of flowers in the back.

"Those must be from the Luthors," Clark remarks.

"They are! I love roses, especially white ones for some strange reason. They're beautiful and fair."

"Kind of like you, Scarlett."

"What did you say, Clark?"

"Nothing," he answers back quickly. Chloe laughs. Scarlett buys a rose and they head back to Clark's house.

They talk until the sun goes down, and the phone rings.

"Chloe, your dad's coming. Pete your mom just called. She's on her way."

"Awww! We were just getting started."

"Yeah, on 20 questions for Scarlett! Why are you so interested in me? I'm nothing special."

"Yes you are! You're a Luthor!"

"You sound like Lionel! And Lex!"

"I'm sorry, I just meant that it must be nice to be rich."

"Chloe, it's really not. No friends besides my books and a few servants and Lex. I have no life outside the mansion and I've never been to a public school except for today. Being rich doesn't give you anything but loneliness. That's why I like it here. Clark liked me before he knew I was a Luthor. His family took me in, not knowing who I am. That's what makes this town so different from any other. The people here don't judge you by your name or by how much money you have. They judge you on who you are as a person and what you do."

"Well, most people do." Pete says, as the doorbell rings.

"Chloe? Your dad's here."

"And there's my call to duty."

"Farewell, Miss Sullivan!" Clark calls to her in mock anguish.

"Be back soon!" Pete says, in the same tone.

"Bye!" Scarlett says, smiling at the boys. When Pete leaves, Scarlett decides to turn in for the night. After she puts on her cleaned pajamas, she says goodnight to everyone and goes up to her meadow room. "I think I'm going to like it here. Definitely." She sighs and smiles as she falls asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyone that's read my fanfic! And thanks to stillaweirdo for adding my fanfic as a fav! You rock! If you could please review, I would be very happy. I'm sad the show's over now, but it doesn't mean I'll stop updating! Enjoy this chapter and review! I might not update for a while because school's so crazy at the moment. Just a little heads up! Keep reading and review, please!**

**Chapter 4**

The next day, Scarlett wakes up to the sound of yelling outside.

"What the hell?" She gets out of bed and runs down the stairs. The yelling stops abruptly. She opens the side door and looks out to the barn. She sees Clark and his dad talking together. It seems to be about the fact that Clark's red plaid long-sleeve shirt looks like a ragged short sleeve shirt on one arm and the other isn't.

Then he goes into the barn. Scarlett walks towards the barn.

"Scarlett! You're up early!" Mr. Kent says, surprised.

"I always wake up at this time. It's when I take my morning walk." There's a brief pause.

"What's wrong with Clark?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It's just that he doesn't seem like himself. He seems upset about something."

"It's nothing. Probably just adolescence."

"I don't know… May I talk to him?"

"Of course."

"See you later, Mr. Kent."

"Clark?" A loud clang of metal answers her.

"Scarlett!" Clark hides behind a bale of hay. "I didn't hear you come in."

"It's a barn Clark. There's really no way to knock."

"I'm- I'm not… decent."

"Do you change in this barn too?"

"Umm…" "Okay, relax. I'll leave. I just wanted to see if you were alright." He pokes his head out from behind the hay.

"Why wouldn't I be alright?"

Scarlett looks at the discarded shirt. "What happened to your-"

"We'll be late for school. We'd better get going."

"Clark, school doesn't start for another half hour. What's going on?"

"It's nothing. Just-"

"Adolescence?"

"… Yeah."

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me the truth, I'll go." She turns around and leaves the barn.

"Scarlett, are you okay?" Mr. Kent asks, as she goes back in the house.

"Never better."

"Clark, where are you going?"

"Can't talk now, Dad, I'm taking care of a problem."

"Good morning, Mrs. Kent."

"Good morning, Scarlett."

"Morning, Mom."

"Good morning, Clark." Scarlett practically flies upstairs and bolts herself in her meadow room. A tentative knock reaches her ears ten minutes later. She takes a deep breath and goes to the door, but it remains closed.

"Yes?"

"Hey."

"Hey, Clark."

"Can I trust you?"

"Why?"

"Because I owe you the truth." She unbolts the door, opening it a tiny bit.

"All of it, or just most?"

"Well, all that I know."

"Clark, you don't have to tell me now. I'm a big girl. I can wait."

"You'll be waiting a long time, then."

"It's okay. Honestly, I'm fine."

"I'll see you at school?"

"Yeah. I'll be out soon, I promise."

He leaves, and she shuts the door.

"What's wrong with me? Why can't I just talk to the guy without sounding like a total idiot? No wonder why he likes that Lana girl. She's perfect!" Scarlett paces around in a circle as she thinks out loud.

"Why am I even talking like this? I don't have a crush on this… this farm boy. Do I?" She thinks for a few seconds. "Nah!"

She puts on a blue plaid shirt and a pair of jeans, and goes downstairs for breakfast.

"You look good in plaid," Clark says, slightly breathless.

"Thanks." She smiles at him. After they eat breakfast, Mrs. Kent kisses Clark goodbye and hugs Scarlett.

"Have a great day you two!" She calls out, as they walk to the bus stop.

"We'll try!" They call back, together.

"I still haven't gotten my class schedule yet," Scarlett says to Clark, on their way down to the bus stop.

"I'm sure you'll get it soon."

"I hope so. Or else, I might have to shadow you for the whole year!"

"That wouldn't be so bad."

"What?"

"I didn't say anything," he looks away, blushing. The bus rolls around the corner, and all of a sudden Clark vanishes from behind Scarlett. She doesn't notice until she sits down, across from Chloe and Pete.

"Where's Clark?" Scarlett asks Chloe. She shrugs in response.

"There he is!" The bus stops at another house, and Clark gets on.

"Weird… He was right behind me, like two minutes ago."

"Chloe, maybe you should add that to the Wall of Weird?" Pete suggests.

"The what?"

"The Wall of Weird."

"What's that?"

"I'll show it to you during lunch," Chloe says, smiling a little. Clark finds Scarlett and sits next to her.

"What happened to you, Clark?"

"Took a different route."

"But you were right behind me. There's no way you could have gotten to a different house 10 miles away in less than ten minutes, unless you have super-speed." She pauses. "Do you?"

He whispers in her ear, "Yes."

"So you've got super-strength and super-speed?"

"So far, yes."

"'So far'? What do you mean by 'so far'?"

"I think I'm still getting my powers," he says to her in a hushed tone.

"That's how I feel, too." They stay silent for the rest of the bus ride. When they get to school, Scarlett remembers something.

"Clark, why-"

He collapses right in front of Lana.

"Clark!"

His books fall out of his arms, papers flying everywhere. Scarlett helps him get the stray papers back into their folders.

"Here, you missed one." Lana gives it to him, her green necklace glinting in the sunlight.

"Thanks."

"So what are you, man or superman?" She asks, smiling.

"I haven't figured that out yet." He replies.

"Hey, Kent!" Whitney throws him a book, and he falls again. Some boys were snickering at him.

"Leave him alone, you jerks! Find something better to do, like getting a life!" Scarlett glares at them, helping Clark up.

"Scarlett?"

"It's okay, Clark. I'm right here." She says goodbye to Lana and helps Clark get inside. As soon as he's far enough away from Lana, he regains his composure.

"Thanks. No one's ever stuck up for me like that before."

"Not even Chloe and Pete?"

"Like I said, no one's stuck up for me like that."

"So, this is a first then?"

"Yeah. My locker's over here, Scarlett."

"Okay."

"See you at lunch, guys!"

"Bye, Chloe! Bye Pete!" Scarlett waves goodbye as they walk past her and Clark.

"Hey, Clark?"

"Yeah?" He fumbles with his lock.

"About that question… I know that's not what you were going to say. You can still ask me the real question." He doesn't reply.

He opens the locker door, puts a folder and a couple of books away, grabs a textbook, closes the locker, and starts walking to class.

"Clark!" Scarlett runs to catch up with him, slightly irritated.

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?" He pushes the door open to his classroom.

"Like you're trying to avoid me." She slips into the room.

"I'm not avoiding you!"

"Well, you're doing a good impression of it!" The teacher walks in. He is a fairly tall, handsome, brown hair, brown eyed, tan man in his mid-twenties.

"Clark, you're here early!"

"Hey, Mr. Blake. Yeah, I wanted to introduce you to Scarlett Luthor. She's new here and I was showing her around."

"Did you say 'Luthor'? As in Lionel Luthor?"

"I did, Mr. Blake."

"I had no idea Lionel had a daughter!"

"Actually, he adopted me."

"Still, he must've had a hard time keeping the reporters off of you."

"He did like keeping a very close eye on me. It was rather annoying."

"Well, I hope you like it here at Smallville High."

"Thank you, sir." She smiles at him. He returns her smile and goes into the back room, closing the door behind him.

"Does this happen to you a lot?" Clark asks, sitting in a seat near the back.

"If you mean meeting new people, yes. School on the other hand, no." She sits in front of him, turning slightly.

"I meant being recognized as Lionel Luthor's adopted daughter."

"No. But I'm getting used to it fast."

"Listen, Scarlett, about that question earlier-" The door opens, students begin to file in, taking their seats, chatting and laughing.

Clark closes his mouth, and Mr. Blake comes out of the back room. The bell rings as Mr. Blake sits down in his desk. Clark taps Scarlett on her shoulder. She turns around.

"Do you need a pencil?"

She blushes slightly, "Yeah. Can I borrow one?"

"Sure, here."

She takes the pencil from his hand, their fingers brushing against the others briefly.

"Thanks." She says, her voice sounding far away. Definitely have a crush on him. Big time. Curse those gorgeous blue eyes! The second bell rings distantly. She turns back around, trying to listen to Mr. Blake's lecture on Shakespeare. At lunch, Scarlett joins Clark, Chloe, and Pete. Clark sits across from Pete and Chloe.

"So should I add this to the 'Wall of Weird'?" Chloe shows the other three a picture of glowing flowers.

"I'd say yes," Pete says casually, taking a sip of water. Clark nods in agreement.

"Oh, shoot! Scarlett I've gotta show it to you! C'mon guys."

Scarlett follows them out of the cafeteria and into the computer room.

"This is where the school paper The Torch is made. Chloe writes about things that happen at school," Pete explains Clark guides me to a wall filled with newspaper article clippings.

"This is where Chloe keeps track of the strange things that have happened in Smallville since the meteor shower. She thinks she can connect all of them to it."

"Wow. That's a lot of articles!"

"Yeah. I love to read about strange and unusual things!"

"Anyway, let's put up the newest article!" Clark says, holding it out to Chloe.

"Fine!" She rolls her green eyes. Scarlett helps her pin it on the bulletin board.

"Thanks. So, what do you think?"

"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen! I like it a lot!"

"Really?"

"Totally, Chloe. And I don't lie."

"Where have you been my whole life?"

"Locked in a mansion."

"You are officially the most awesome person to walk the face of the planet!"

"Thanks. I try!" They laugh.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to understand girls," Clark shakes his head, looking at the two of them.

"Me neither, dude." Pete pats Clark on his shoulder.

"Oh, shoot! We gotta go. See ya later, Chloe!"

"See ya, Scarlett!"

"Bye, Pete!"

"Bye, Scarlett!" She follows Clark out to the gym, where the rest of the class is filing into the locker rooms.

"I'll see you in a few, Clark."

"See you later."

After they change, the class heads over to the middle of the wooden floor near the basketball hoops.

"Alright, class! Let's get moving here! Run a couple of laps around the whole gym, and I don't want to see any slackers!" A tough looking, broad shouldered, medium build man in his mid-thirties marches over.

His white tennis shoes squeak on the smooth floor, and his green tee shirt and red shorts are slightly wrinkled. He wears a black baseball cap over his short-cropped black hair.

Everyone groans and a couple guys say, "Coach B! We did this yesterday!"

"Do you wanna do 10 laps?"

"No sir!" Everyone choruses.

"Then let's go! Do 'em again! C'mon!" He claps his callused hands together.

"Meet Coach Barr." Clark says to Scarlett, dryly.

"Nice man." She returns, biting her lip to keep from smiling.

"Yup. He used to coach the football team. Then he decided to stop."

"Strange."

"Enough chit-chat! I want to see the sweat coming out of your pores!" Pete runs along Scarlett's side.

"So, do you like someone already?"

"Yeah. He's nice. So far, almost everybody has been nice to me."

"Someone likes you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He thinks you're really nice, funny, stubborn, caring, trustworthy, and extremely pretty."

"Does he?"

"He really does. See, he would have told you this before, but he's a little shy."

"Is he?"

"He could have told you this in person, but he couldn't get the guts to do it."

"Who is this guy that likes me?"

"I promised him I wouldn't tell."

"Of course. After all, a secret is a secret."

"You're not like the Luthors. You've grown up differently, haven't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean-" They finish their last lap.

"Alright, peeps! Time to stretch for 10 minutes!" Coach Barr tells us. Scarlett sits down to stretch her legs. Clark sits on one side of her, Pete on the other.

"So, about that movie…?" She asks as Barr yells at a small freshman boy to stretch farther.

"Chloe said this upcoming Monday, we'll go see it. After school, at the movie theater near The Beanery." Clark replies, keeping an eye on the coach.

"Stretch out those hamstrings! That means you too, Kent!"

After they stretch, Barr tells everyone to go shoot hoops. 15 minutes later, he blows his whistle.

"Alright, girls hit the showers. Boys, stay here." Lana Lang waves goodbye to Clark before they go out of the door.

Once they're in the locker room, Scarlett turns to Lana.

"We never officially met. I'm Scarlett Luthor."

"Lana Lang." They shake hands.

"Luthor?"

"As in Lionel Luthor, yes."

"I've never met a Luthor in person before."

"I've never met a town that's been this kind to me before. If you don't mind me asking, when did you meet Clark?"

"When I was about 7 years old."

"Are you two…?"

"No! We're just close friends, that's all."

"Do you like him?"

Lana stops mid-stride, "As a friend I do. I mean he's nice, funny, friendly, good at heart, and he seems to be there for anyone whenever they need him. Even if they don't know it, yet. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

"Do you like Clark?"

"So far, he's made a good first impression. He just seems like he has the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. You know what I mean?" They continue walking to their lockers.

"Now that you mention it, yeah."

"Do you ever miss your mansion?" Lana asks, as they change. Scarlett pulls her red shirt off.

"Sometimes. When I'm out of it for like a week, I do." She buttons up her blue plaid shirt.

"So, do you have any plans for next week, Scarlett?"

"Yeah," she slips on a pair of jeans.

"I'm going to see a movie with Chloe, Pete, and Clark. You?"

"I might see a movie with Whitney. Maybe I'll see you there."

"Yeah. Maybe."

"So. What's the deal with you and Lex? It was all over the newspapers."

"We're just good friends." Lana raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine. We used to date when I was 10, but we stopped because it was too awkward."

"Oh. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Scarlett smiles at Lana. They leave the locker room, a couple of girls giggling behind them.

"Thanks, Lana." Scarlett whispers to her, as they head their separate ways.

"You're welcome." She replies. The rest of the week flies by.

On Monday, Chloe drags Scarlett into the ice cream shop with Clark and Pete. Pete insists on buying Scarlett her ice cream. She sighs, but promises to pay him back. The four of them find a booth near a window.

"So, what movie are we going to see?" Scarlett asks, as Clark stumbles and nearly drops his ice cream on the floor. Chloe and Pete hide their smiles behind their ice creams, while Scarlett helps Clark into the booth.

"Well, we were thinking something like a romantic comedy," Chloe replies, still smirking.

They grow silent, eating their ice cream.

"How about, 'Mending of a Wounded Heart'?" Clark suggests, after a while.

"Hmm, sure. That has good ratings," Chloe and Pete say together.

"Sound good to you, Scarlett?" Clark asks her.

"Sure! When does it show?"

"The time I saw was 6:30 tonight." Pete says.

"And it's…" Clark pulls back his shirtsleeve, reading his watch. "… 5:20."

"We've got time," Chloe says, sitting back.

"Oh wait. I read that wrong. It's actually 5:30," Clark says, embarrassed.

"We'd better get going then… Scarlett?" Pete looks at her.

"What?"

"You've got chocolate on your chin." She wipes her chin with her napkin.

"Good?"

"You missed it. It's right-" He gently wipes the chocolate off her chin with his finger. "-There."

"Thanks, Pete."

"Hate to ruin your little bonding moment, but we gotta go," Chloe says, getting up from the wooden booth. They take their half finished ice cream cones with them on the way to the theater.

"It's 5:45," Clark informs them, finishing the last part of his cone.

"We can wait a bit," Chloe says, as the rest finish their cones.

"6:00," Clark says, as they go inside.

"Four for 'Mending of a Wounded Heart' at 6:30, please," Chloe tells the ticketer.

He smiles at them, "That'll be $20. You know, that movie's popular tonight for some reason."

"I'll bet," Chloe says, paying the man.

"Here are your tickets. Enjoy the show."

"Oh I will," she mutters. They move onto the snack section.

"You know, Lana and her aunt Nell run this place," Clark says to Scarlett.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Lana told me years ago." Chloe rolls her eyes at him, but doesn't say a word.

Scarlett clears her throat, "So. Popcorn?"

"Yeah, 1 large popcorn, and 4 medium sodas."

"It's cheaper to buy the #4 combo of 1 medium popcorn and 3 small sodas," the nasally voice, blonde cashier woman tells them.

"Then we'll take that, plus a bag of candy, please."

"That'll be $7.50." Pete pays the cashier, giving Clark the popcorn, Chloe the bag of candy, and Scarlett two sodas. He carries the other one, giving the tickets to the usher. He tears them in half, returning the stubs to Pete.

"Theater 12, to your right," the usher says, in a semi-deep voice.

"Thanks," Scarlett says, as they pass by him. He nods at her, but smiles slightly.

"Come on, guy." Chloe drags Pete into the theater. Scarlett looks at Clark. He shrugs and they go in.

They choose their seats in the middle of the theater. Scarlett sits in between Pete and Clark, Chloe on the other side of Clark. The lights darken. Chloe elbows Clark in his ribs.

"Is that Lana?"

"What? Yeah, I guess."

"Shh, you two, the movie's starting."

"It's just the commercials, Pete."

"Shut up, Chloe!" She sticks her tongue out at him. After a couple 2-minute commercials, the movie begins. It's about this girl Sarah who's in love with a guy named Skyler, but her friend Peter is in love with her.

Scarlett is enchanted by the story and how real it is to her life. She understands that it isn't real, and there are stunt doubles that perform the really dangerous things. Yet she still falls in love with the movie.

When Skyler breaks Sarah's heart by cheating on her with another girl (Jenna), Scarlett silently cries. Clark notices, but doesn't do anything. Later on, Peter and Sarah kiss tenderly.

Half of the theater (including Scarlett) goes "Awww!" really softly.

Scarlett wakes up in time to see the screen fade to black and the credits roll by. The lights come back on. She jerks her head up from Clark's shoulder and follows Pete out of the door.

"Scarlett!"

"Hey, Lana. And Whitney."

"What did you think of the movie?" Lana asks, walking closer to the other four. Whitney comes a little behind her.

"To be honest, it was great! Though I did cry when Skyler broke Sarah's heart like that." Scarlett admits.

"I cried then too, I think even Whitney was a little teary."

"I just got dust in my eye."

"If it matters, I believe love should last, and a real man isn't afraid to show his true feelings to anyone."

"Those are good beliefs, Scarlett."

"Thanks, Lana." She smiles at her.

"You know each other?" Clark asks sounding mildly surprised.

"We met last week. So far, Lana's been really nice to me. I guess it's like a Smallville custom."

"I just think it's better to be nice than mean."

"I agree, Lana," Scarlett smiles at her again.

"Okay… Starting now, Clark!" Scarlett turns around quickly and both Pete and Clark kiss her on her cheeks before jogging to the door and running out to the other side of the street. Scarlett blushes.

"Embarrassed?" Chloe asks, smiling.

"A little bit, yeah."

"Me too. They always have to race."

"But Clark wins every time," Lana puts in.

"It's true. I've witnessed it," Whitney says, nodding.

"Oh, it's late. We'd better go. It was nice seeing you two again! See you tomorrow," Lana waves to the girls as she departs with Whitney.

Scarlett waves back as they go out the door, hand in hand. Clark slips through the door minutes before Pete, and stops in front of the girls.

"You know, Clark, you're cheating." Scarlett whispers to him.

"I go a normal pace," he returns.

"Normal?"

"Well, sorta normal." Scarlett opens her mouth, but Chloe pulls her out of the door.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To talk, away from the boys."

"Why?" Scarlett asks, confused. Chloe turns around quickly. They're outside of The Beanery.

"I want to get to know more about you. The real you."

"Um, okay. What do you want to know?"

"Do you like Clark Kent?"

"What?" Scarlett asks, totally off-guard.

"I asked if you like Clark."

Scarlett pauses, thinking.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Sorry about that cliffhanger ! I know I do that, but at least I can start anew! ^^ Anyways, thanks a bunch to my **_**one true fan**_ **KelseyHalliwell for loving my writing so much as to get the courage to actually post a review! Still love ya! ;D Enjoy the story and please review!**

**Chapter 5**

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

"I promise I will never tell a soul."

"Okay. Yes. I like Clark Kent a lot."

"You do?" Chloe looks surprised.

"Yes. And it's obvious that you really like him too."

"What?"

"Don't deny it, Chloe! Trust me. If you had the chance to kiss him, you would do it with passion."

"I-" Chloe pauses, then pouts at Scarlett. "Okay I would. How do you do it?"

"I don't understand."

"Getting Clark to fall for you. How do you do it?"

"I pretend like I'm talking to Lex but- wait a sec. Back up a couple of sentences! Did you say Clark is falling for me?"

"Yes, I did."

"How do you know he is?"

"When he sees you, his whole face lights up in pure joy. You haven't noticed that?"

"No. I'm completely oblivious to whether or not a guy likes me."

"So, this is a shock for you?"

"What do you think? Yes! Now it's gonna be totally awkward. I know he likes me and I like him. If I tell him, it'll ruin our friendship."

"Maybe it won't."

"I can't tell him. I just can't."

"Why not?"

"Our friendship means everything to me. I don't want to ruin it."

"I completely understand. Oh my gosh! Move, Scarlett!"

"Why-" She sees him before she finishes her sentence. A man in a long beige coat with a black fedora pulled over his face runs to her, his scuffed black shoes still a bit shiny.

"Come on, Scarlett!" Chloe pulls her away. The man follows closely behind.

"What does he want?" Scarlett asks, a little scared.

"I don't know. It doesn't look like he's friendly." He pulls a gun out and cocks it.

"Okay, definitely not friendly," Chloe deciphers.

Scarlett trips over a crack in the sidewalk, her face fully in a streetlamp light. The man points the gun at her, his finger on the trigger. She closes her eyes thinking this is the end. Then the man pauses and puts the gun down.

"Sorry, Princess. Thought you were my man," a familiar husky male voice greets her ears. Relieved she takes his hand.

"Could never forgive myself if I shot you. What's your alias?"

"Scarlett. Scarlett Luthor." He does a double take.

"Luthor? As in Lex Luthor?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. I can't believe I almost shot a 'Luthor'. Don't tell Lionel."

"Oh I won't!"

"Who's she?" He cocks his head at Chloe.

"That's my friend Chloe. She's harmless."

"Now, my name isn't important."

"Yes it is…" Scarlett looks him up and down. "… Lesley."

He sighs, "Can't fool you, Princess." She smiles at him.

"How did you know?"

"I remember your voice. And I remember you." She knocks his hat off, "Agent Lesley. Permission to hug?"

He smiles at her, "Permission granted, Princess Rose." She hugs him.

"I haven't seen you since you were ten."

"It's been too long, agent."

Chloe looks from Scarlett to Lesley, then back.

"How do you know each other?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, we've gotta go."

"She's right. You must come with me, for your own safety. Both of you. Chloe, you know too much already. Come on."

"Wait, Lesley! Can I tell her how I know you, before we go off on our little adventure?"

Lesley thinks about this, cocking his head to the side. His light brown hair falls into his blue eyes.

"Hmm… Get in the car and I'll consider it."

Scarlett pouts, but does as he asks.

"Where are we going?"

"I have absolutely no idea, just get in the car!"

"Fine," Chloe gets in reluctantly. Scarlett slides in after her, closing the door.

Lesley gets in and closes the door. All three of them buckle up as he starts the car. He backs out and starts off.

"You can tell her."

"Okay. When I was four, I had to leave my home, which is in Ireland. My father is the king and my mother is the queen."

"What?"

"I know. It's hard to explain. Anyway, so someone threatened to murder me on my 10th birthday so my parents called Agent Lesley to take me somewhere safe. My dad woke me up late and walked me to a plane. Agent Lesley flew it out if Ireland.

"I fell asleep, and I woke up in the Luthor's mansion. That's where I got the alias, 'Scarlett Luthor'. I've been using it ever since. My real name is Princess Rosella Martin (A/N It's pronounced Marr-teen) of Ireland." Chloe looks at Scarlett in complete shock.

"We're here," Lesley says, stopping the car. Their seat belts unbuckle and the doors open automatically.

"Come on," he calls to the girls from outside.

"But it's just an abandoned movie theater," Chloe whispers to Scarlett.

"Your eyes deceive you. It's a base. You know. Where spies go?"

"Really? Since when does an agent need a base for anything?"

"He's not my agent. Well, he was assigned to me."

"What?"

"I'll explain later."

"This way," Lesley takes Chloe's hand. At the last second, she grabs Scarlett's. They go into the old theater.

The ticket booths have broken glass, the counters are dusty and full of cobwebs, and the snack counter is empty.

"This place was shut down when I was seven. We're the first ones here since then." Scarlett informs Chloe. Lesley already knew this, but didn't say anything.

Their shoes disturb the dust on the moth eaten carpets as they walk to the last theater on the right. They go inside. The screen is covered in cobwebs and the stuffing is coming out of the chairs. The projector lens is cracked with old dusty film reels everywhere. The ceiling has cobwebs on it, with dusty and broken light bulbs set inside.

They walk to the screen. Scarlett gives Lesley her "you've-got-to-be-kidding-me" look. He gives her his "just-trust-me-on-this" look. She sighs. Lesley reaches his hand out and touches a cobweb with his index finger. Scarlett follows suit, nudging Chloe in the ribs.

She gets the message and does the same as Scarlett.

"This'll take a few seconds…" Lesley says, his voice trailing away. The screen goes black, and melts away.

"Now to protect her identity, you must never speak of this place to anyone. Don't even pretend to know about this place, or Princess Rosella. Understand?"

"Umm… Okay? Who is she?" Chloe points at a tall blonde woman wearing black heels and a black suit with a white shirt and no tie. Something about the woman makes Scarlett trust her.

"Someone who works with Agent Lesley."

"Speaking of Lesley, where is he?" A loud clang answers Scarlett's question. She whips around. Lesley had torn open one of the old film reels. He pulls out an old leather suitcase, a battered (and slightly torn) beige coat, a bottle of hair dye, and some cosmetics.

"I have to dye my hair?"

"No. They will." He nods to the woman behind the girls. Scarlett turns around again. Other agents appear behind the woman, holding clipboards. They take Scarlett through the door, behind the screen. She can barely see Lesley's shadow through it.

"Please sit down." She feels her hair being combed out by someone.

"Close your eyes," the blonde woman says. Scarlett does so and feels something go on her forehead, cheeks, chin, and nose. Also, she feels eye shadow being applied to her eyelids.

"Open your eyes, and smile!" Scarlett does so, and the woman applies mascara on her eyelashes and blush on her cheeks.

"Head back please." Scarlett feels her long, dark brown hair fall into the sink.

The room is built like a spa. There are tinted windows (so no one can see in from the outside); the lights are candles, and black leather chairs. The sink is the same as one from a haircutters place.

"Close your eyes." She feels a warm rush of hot water on her scalp. I never noticed how heavy my hair feel when it's wet. Once her hair is washed, the woman tells her to sit up in the chair. The woman gathers up Scarlett's wet hair, measures it, and takes a pair of scissors out.

Scarlett closes her eyes again. She feels her head getting lighter with each cut of the scissors. About 10 minutes later, the woman tells Scarlett to open her eyes. She does so, and exhales.

She sees a 14 ½ year old girl sitting in a black chair, her hair layers of foil, her heart shaped face glowing with beauty.

"Is this...me?"

"Yes."

"But, I don't recognize myself."

"It's alright. Trust me, you look great."

"What's my alias?" Scarlett asks. She gets handed a lilac colored tee shirt, light blue jeans, and lilac heels as a reply. She rolls her brown eyes and goes into the changing room. Five minutes later, she comes out and sits beneath a beehive hair dryer with a plastic hair net over her hair.

A pretty brunette woman paints Scarlett's toenails, while a red haired woman paints her fingernails. Twenty minutes later, the blonde woman turns off the dryer. The hairnet is taken off along with the tin foil layers.

The woman smiles at her. Scarlett turns around and looks in the mirror again. She gasps in both shock and happiness. Her hair is shoulder length and a beautiful light brown. Her eyes are still chocolate brown, but stand out more.

"In answer to your question, Agent Lesley will tell you. He will pass a message to the Luthors later. Now you must hurry, Your Highness! It's 10:00 p.m."

"Thank you so much." She says, still a bit confused.

"I'm just doing my job, but you're welcome." She smiles at the blonde woman and is lead out to the front of the screen.

"Agent Lesley?"

He looks at the new girl.

"If one didn't know you, you could fool them easily."

"Okay? What about Chloe?"

"She's sleeping here. Try not to wake her."

"Too late." The woman goes back behind the screen, as Chloe opens her eyes. She stares at the strange girl in front of her.

"Who are you and what have you done with Scarlett Luthor?"

"I'm afraid you're a little behind the times, Chloe."

"Huh?" She asks the girl who'd previously been Scarlett.

"I am Scarlett Luthor. While you were asleep, the other agents gave me a new identity. Though I still don't know what my alias is." A slip of paper comes out of a slot in a hidden part of the wall. Lesley takes it and reads whatever's written on it.

"You are 'Miss Eleanora Jennifer Brown'. You were Scarlett Luthor's friend and you're from Minnesota."

"That's what it says?"

"Yeah."

"Don't I have to have a voice teacher then?"

"Nope. Just this." He sticks something on her neck, and covers it up with a piece of something that looks like her skin.

"Now talk."

"This feels really weird, Agent."

"Whoa!" Chloe does a double take.

"Now that is scary! You sound totally different."

"I know. Chloe, you must call me 'Eleanora', for my safety and yours."

"But I'm used to calling you Scarlett."

"Scarlett Luthor is dead," Eleanora says, her voice shaking.

"What?"

"It's difficult to understand, but even one slip up can put her life in jeopardy. As well as yours."

"Agent Lesley, don't frighten her."

"I'm just stating the facts."

"Whatever," Eleanora says, as they go out the door.

"What do I have to do?" Chloe asks, nervous.

"Keep this all a secret or else."

"Or else…?"

"I die and so do you. No pressure or anything." They are on their way back to Clark's house now.

"What do I tell them, Agent?"

"Call me Lesley. And don't worry about it. I'll handle this. Just remember your big finish if your cover is compromised."

"Right. Just like rehearsal, minus the ropes."

"What 'big finish'?" Chloe looks at her.

Eleanora takes her lilac scarf around her neck, tightening it to look like a noose, and makes a face.

"Oh. Sad." Chloe says vaguely. Eleanora nods, putting her scarf back to the way it was before.

"You must never tell this to anyone. Not even Clark, or your parents, or anyone."

"So I'm the only one that should know?"

"Yes, unless someone kills you. Then it's just me. Or vice versa."

"That's cheerful," Chloe says dryly.

Eleanora half-smiles, "Why do I feel so guilty?"

"Because you're keeping a secret from Clark, who doesn't have a secret to tell you?" Chloe guesses.

"Maybe," she looks at her watch.

"It's midnight, and we're here." Lesley informs them.

They pull into the gravel driveway.

"Take Chloe home, Lesley. I'll call you if I need help."

"I can't do that. I must protect you, at any cost."

Eleanora blows a strand of hair out of her face, "Fine. I'll do it your way." She gets out of the car, wishing Chloe a good night/morning.

Eleanora feels bad for what will happen, but knows she has to do it. Too many people know her as Scarlett Luthor. Including the people trying to kill her. It's too risky to keep living her life as Scarlett Luthor. She takes a deep breath, walking up to the Kents door, carrying a suitcase in each hand.

"Go on," Lesley nudges her.

"I-I can't."

"Just do it, Eleanora."

"No way, you do it."

"Be brave."

"Ugh! I can't believe how hard it is to knock on their door this early in the morning!"

"I'll help you." Lesley holds her hand in his.

He smiles, gently folding her fingers into a fist. He raises his arm and hers, still holding her fist, and knocks twice on the Kents door. Lights flicker on. Eleanora puts her hand down. Lesley lets her hand go. The door opens, revealing a slightly cross Mr. Kent. His face softens when he sees Eleanora.

"Mr. Kent?" She asks, curiously.

"Yes?" He asks, slightly concerned.

"We're apologize for bothering you this early," Lesley begins.

"It's alright. What brings you here?"

She looks at Lesley.

"Scarlett Luthor. Something's happened to her, something awful," Lesley says, solemnly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! Thanks for sticking with me this long. I'm sorry for all those that never wanted Scarlett to go, but in a way she's not gone. Here's Chapter 6, hope you like it. Love and peace to all of ya people!**

**Chapter 6**

Mr. Kent immediately looks worried, and tells them to come in. They go inside. Mrs. Kent rises up from a chair. Clark comes down the stairs, locking eyes with Eleanora briefly. He turns to his father. Eleanora's heart sinks, knowing what she has to do, even though she knows it will break Clark's heart.

"What happened to Scarlett?" Mr. Kent asks, closing the door.

Eleanora takes a shaky deep breath, "She… left us yesterday."

"She's gone?" Clark asks, his voice shaking.

"We tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen." Lesley speaks up from behind Eleanora.

A tear slips down her cheek, knowing how badly this is hurting everyone.

"What do you mean, 'she left us'?" Mrs. Kent asks. Eleanora looks at her before answering.

"Scarlett went to a bridge, stepped onto the rail and fell straight to the ground. She didn't want anyone to stop her. She said it was better that way."

Clark puts his head in his hands. Mr. and Mrs. Kent sit down in opposite chairs.

"D-did she… say anything before that? Any- any last words?" Clark's voice shakes so badly, it is hard to understand what he's saying.

"Yes. She asked me to give this to you, Clark." Eleanora holds out the white rose she'd bought when she was Scarlett. He lifts his face from his hands. His cheeks are shiny from silently crying.

"Did- did she say… any-anything else?"

"She asked if I could stay here for a few days. Just until a new family can take care of me."

"Are your parents…?"

"No, Clark. At least I don't think they're dead. I was put in an orphanage when I was little. Lesley found me there and took care of me until I was old enough to understand. Then he told me the truth about my real parents. He promised to find temporary homes for my sister and me. My sister was taken right away, but no one seems to want me around for more than a few hours."

"How did you find us?" Mrs. Kent asks.

"Scarlett talked nonstop about how nice Smallville is and some of the people in it. She also talked about you, Clark, and how wonderful your parents were to her while she was here. So, Lesley and I packed our bags, and we've been trying to find me a home ever since."

"We're sorry, but we don't have an available bed for you."

"Jonathan!"

"We can't let her see that room, Martha! She'll freak out," Mr. Kent whispers.

"I understand, Mr. Kent. Guess we'll have to keep looking, Lesley."

"Yeah, guess Scarlett exaggerated on how hospitable Smallville is." He opens the door for her. "Come along, Eleanora."

"Sorry for your troubles," she gives the Kents a small wave and a tiny smile.

"Wait." Clark speaks up, his voice stronger.

Eleanora turns around, slightly.

"Check the Langs. They live just across the way from us. I'm sure they'll have an open room for you."

"Thanks, Clark." She smiles at him before taking her leave. Lesley closes the door behind him.

"Why did you tell them about your sister? You were supposed to keep that quiet!"

"Well, I don't know why! You never gave me a script on what to say or what to do! Tell you what, how about this time you do all the talking while I take a knife and stick it through my heart?" She snaps at him.

"Don't do that! I'm sorry, I overreacted!"

She knocks on the door, the sun rising behind her. Lana opens the door a few minutes later, her black hair messy and she's wearing a pink robe over her light blue shirt and sweatpants.

"Can I help you?" She asks, her voice tired and squinting in the sun.

"Are you Lana Lang?" Eleanora asks, innocently.

"Yes, who are you?" She eyes Lesley, suspiciously.

"My name is Eleanora Brown. This is Lesley. I'm afraid we have some rather unsettling news about Scarlett Luthor." Her expression immediately changes from tired to concerned.

"Come in, please. Both of you." Eleanora looks at Lesley.

"Just follow her," he whispers, nudging her.

She takes a deep breath and follows Lana into what appears to be the living room.

"You'll have to excuse the mess. We weren't expecting visitors." She clears off a cherry wood coffee table and turns off the wall lamps. A red-haired woman in her twenties comes down the stairs, wearing a white robe over her dark green pajamas.

Both her and Lana are barefoot.

"Lana? Who are they?"

"Relax, Aunt Nell. The girl is Eleanora Brown and the man with her is Lesley."

"Actually, it's Agent Lesley."

"'Agent Lesley'? What agency?" Nell inquires.

"The FBI. I've been sworn to protect this girl with my life. Her personal guardian angel."

"More like 'personal overprotective bodyguard' if anything," Eleanora mutters.

"Why? What is she, royalty?"

"Aunt Nell!" Lana looks shocked and embarrassed.

"She knows everything about Scarlett Luthor."

"Like what?" Nell asks, speculative. Lesley turns to Eleanora.

"You tell them."

"No, Lesley, you tell them."

"You do it!"

"But I did it last time! It's your turn!"

"Fine! You are so stubborn!" They turn back around. Lana raises her eyebrows at them.

"Umm, er- this girl- she-" He sighs, and decides to tell them the absolute truth.

"This girl is Scarlett Luthor."

"What?" All three look completely confused. Actually, Eleanora is shocked, while the other two are confused.

"Can we trust you to be my secret keepers?" Eleanora asks, once her shock dies down.

"Why?" Nell asks.

"Can we trust you two?" Eleanora repeats.

"We'll take your secret to the grave with us." Lana says, while Nell sort of nods.

"Okay, then you should know the truth." Eleanora tells them all she told Chloe. Well, just the part from where her life was threatened to her having to leave Ireland and her royal parents. She also tells them that she'd changed her identity, but never says where she went, or who was there. She doesn't mention that Chloe knew yet, or that she'd been to Clark's just a few hours previous. After she finishes, Nell and Lana stare at her.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" She asks, nervous.

"Why didn't you keep your alias?" Lana asks, after a while.

"Because someone already knew my alias. The same someone who threatened to murder me back in Ireland. That's why Lesley made me change."

"Does anyone else know this?" Nell asks, sitting down.

"Yes. When Lesley found me, Chloe Sullivan was there too. She knows, you two know, I know, and Lesley knows. No one else does." Eleanora says, honestly.

"So… Do you need a place to stay?" Nell asks, eyeing her suitcases.

"Oh, yeah. If it's not too much trouble."

"We have a guest bedroom upstairs to the left. I'll show it to you," Lana says, getting up.

"Are you staying as well, Agent Lesley?"

"Please, call me Lesley. And yes, it is my duty to protect the princess. Despite her objections."

"Lesley!"

"What? You do object a lot!"

"True…"

"Anyway, I'll show you the guest room. Unless you'd rather sit here and bond with your bodyguard."

"Tempting, but I'll pass for now." Eleanora goes upstairs with Lana, leaving Nell and Lesley alone downstairs. Lana leads the way into a pale pink room with white paper lanterns strung up on the walls.

The bed sheets are white and the comforter is cream. The oak dresser matches the wall color and the window seat is next to the light pink nightstand.

"The closet is behind the lace curtain. It's probably not as elegant as the mansion's guestrooms, but I hope it suits you."

"Oh, Lana, it's perfect! I love it!" She smiles at Eleanora.

"If you need me, my room is right next door. Nell's is just across the hall. And I believe Lesley will be sleeping on the couch, downstairs."

"Thanks a bunch, Lana!"

"No problem! Get some rest." She waves goodnight to her, and closes the door.

Sometime later, Lesley comes in, carrying a red and blue striped blanket in his hands.

"So, how are you feeling?" Eleanora previously put away all her clothes and other things into their proper places and is wearing her silver nightdress with her blue robe over it.

"Like I finally found where I belong."

"You're happy, then?" She nods.

"What's with the blanket, Les?"

"It's yours. You were found in it."

"'Found'? As in born?"

"No. Found as in found. Like in a cornfield, in a ship."

"Like an alien?"

"Yes, but you're only ½ of an alien."

"That makes me feel better," she says, sarcastically.

"Oh, lighten up. It's not that bad."

"So I'm not even human?"

"You're ½ human."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because you weren't ready yet."

"Well then, what planet am I from? Mars?"

"No. I'm not sure what planet you're from, but it's not in our galaxy."

"How far away is my planet from Earth? 4 light-years away?"

"Actually, it is. It would take one 4 years to get to your planet. And 4 years back to get to Earth. And that's only for a day's stay."

"Wow. Must be pretty far then. Have scientists even found it?"

"Not yet. It has a brother planet."

"What is it?"

"A planet called Krypton. Where Davis Bloom is from."

"Wait, are you telling me Davis is a Kryptonian?"

"I don't know, but he is from Krypton."

"This is freaking me out."

"Just trust me. Tell no one about this." Lesley leaves, the blanket on Eleanora's bed. She feels a wave of sleep come over her. She promptly falls back on the bed, her head hitting the pillow.

In her dream, Clark is sitting next to her, his arm around her shoulders. The sun is just setting.

"You're right. It is magical."

"With you here it's even more so." She lays her head on his shoulder. The sun's rays glint off of the shingles on the Kents roof, where they're sitting. He kisses her head, and she smiles.

"How are you doing?" he asks, holding her right hand.

"I'm alright, for the most part." She puts her hand on her bulging stomach.

"I can't wait to see our baby, Nora!"

"I feel the same way, Clark."

"I just don't want to lose you, when it- when it happens."

"I'll never leave you." He smiles at that, and they kiss tenderly. Her engagement ring glints in the last rays of the sun, before it slips over the horizon. She closes her eyes. When she wakes up, she's back in Lana's house. The sun is shining fully through her window.

The smell of pancakes and eggs reaches Eleanora's nose.

"Mmmmm! Smells wonderful!" She rubs the sleep out of her eyes and opens the door. She stumbles down the stairs.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Nell greets her.

"Morning, Ella!" Lana says, getting her plate from the table.

"Good morning, all. What day is it?"

"Saturday," Lana replies.

"I slept that long?"

"Yeah, you must have been exhausted. Don't worry about it," she reassures Eleanora. Someone knocks on the door.

"I'll get it, Nell!" Eleanora says, already going to the door.

"Okay, then come back for breakfast!"

"Promise!" She smiles at Lesley, then opens the door.

"Oh. You're out pretty early. What brings you here?" She asks the person at the door.

"Who is it, Ella?" Nell asks.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey all you peoples! Seeing as how I won't be getting any more reviews from other people, I'll stop asking for them. Hope you enjoy chapter 7! FYI, This chapter may contain some M material. Plus, a familiar character will show up briefly here. Just a heads-up! Later dudes!**

**Chapter 7**

"I called the Kents. I believe it was Clark Kent who picked up the phone. I asked him how Scarlett was, and he sounded sad when he told me she was dead. He said an Eleanora Brown told him how she died. Are you her?"

"Yes. I go by that name… Why?"

"I just wanted to know if it's true."

"Who wants to know?"

"My father and I do."

"Are you her brother?"

"Adoptive brother, actually."

"Ohhh! You're Alexander Luthor!"

"I prefer 'Lex'."

"Well then, Lex. It is true. Scarlett is dead. She fell off of a bridge last night."

Lex is silent for a few moments.

"I'm sorry."

"It's… fine. I just didn't know she was so sad."

"She was actually very happy, but she thought the world would be better off without her."

"That's not true! She made the world better by just being in it."

"Is that why your father never let her out of the mansion, until you insisted so frequently that he gave in?"

"How do you know that?"

"Scarlett was one of my closest friends. I'm not surprised she didn't mention me. She was very good about keeping secrets from people. She originally introduced herself as 'Alana Cress'."

Lex looks at Eleanora, suspicion in his eyes.

"She said she was born in Kansas, but raised in an orphanage. I didn't know she was a Luthor until last week, when she met with me in a barn."

"How did you feel after you found out she was a Luthor? Did your attitude towards her change? Did you try to manipulate her?"

"Honestly, I didn't care. She could have been Oliver Queen's ex-wife, and I still wouldn't care. I was her friend. Her confidante. I would never have betrayed her trust." "But now you have."

"No, I haven't. She wanted me to tell you why she committed suicide. She wanted me to come clean with you."

"So that's the full truth?"

"Yes. That's the full truth."

"Do you mind if I come in?"

"Unless you want proof that this house is what it claims to be, then yes."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you."

"Thankfully, I'm a rather forgiving person. I accept your apology."

"Out of curiosity, whose barn did you talk to Scarlett in?" Lex asks, as he follows Eleanora inside.

"It was- Oh what was his name? The farm boy that lives across the way from us?"

"You mean, Clark?" Lana asks, eyeing Lex warily.

"Yeah. His family's barn," Eleanora says, sitting down.

"Oh."

"Good morning, Lex. Sit down, please." Nell says, kindly.

Lana glares at him. Lesley hides his smile by taking a sip of orange juice.

"What's wrong?" Eleanora whispers to her.

"I don't trust him," she whispers back.

"Who? Lesley?"

"No. Lex. Though I'm not so sure about Lesley either." Nell puts a plate with two chocolate chip pancakes and a glass of chocolate milk in front of Eleanora.

"So I heard that you've just moved here, Eleanora." She raises an eyebrow at Lex. "Small town," he shrugs.

"Too small," she mutters. Lana hides her smile.

"Anyway, have you heard about Scarlett?" Nell asks Lex.

"Yeah. It's too bad. She was a wonderful person."

"How's your father taking the news?" Eleanora asks, cutting her pancakes up.

"I don't know. We don't really have a loving father and son relationship." Her knife squeaks against the plate.

"Sorry. For both that and my knife's protest."

"It's alright. No one ever knows about my father and I until I tell them." Lex gets up.

"Thank you for your time, but I've gotta go."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Lex," Eleanora says, waving her hand at him.

"I hope we meet again, Miss Brown." He looks at Lana.

"Miss Lang." She looks away from him.

"Well, I'll go then. Goodbye and have a great day."

"You as well, Lex." Nell says, closing the door behind him. His footsteps fade away.

The familiar rumble of his car engine reaches Eleanora's ears.

"I haven't talked to Clark. I'll do that later today."

"Ella, it's not your fault."

"But it is! I told him about Scarlett's death!"

"You were only passing along information about her. He can't blame you for that!" Lana says, kindly.

"I still blame myself. You didn't see the look on his face when I told him. You didn't see how much the old me meant to him! I hate myself!" Eleanora bangs her head on the table, right on top of her half-eaten, syrup covered pancakes.

"Ella, you didn't tell me you knew Lex."

"I thought you knew Lionel has another son?" She asks the floor.

"I do now! He never mentioned it to me."

"Maybe you never asked," she says, still talking to the floor. The doorbell rings, startling Eleanora. She raises her head from her plate, syrup running down her face.

"I'll get it," Nell says.

"I'm going upstairs!" Eleanora announces.

"You do that. Shower up!" Nell calls over her shoulder.

"Alright!" Eleanora bounces up the stairs. Once she's in the bathroom, she closes the inside door. She takes off her robe and her nightgown, then thinks again. She puts her robe back on, opens the door and screams.

"Oh my gosh! Clark!"

"Eleanora!"

"What are you-" She adjusts her robe.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! I just wanted to talk!"

"Couldn't you have waited?"

"Again, I'm sorry!"

"What the hell are you two doing up there?" Nell calls, coming up the stairs.

"Damn it!" Clark says.

"We're in trouble," Eleanora says, putting her syrupy face in her hands.

"What is going on?" Nell yells at them.

"Nell, the truth is-"

"There was a spider on the floor. That's why I screamed. Clark was just trying to help. I guess we both got a little scared." He stares at Eleanora.

"Alright. Don't make me yell at you like that again!"

"Yes, Nell. Sorry."

"Go take your shower!"

Eleanora shuffles into the bathroom, with her towel, and closes the inside door.

"Clark! Just stay here!" Nell goes back downstairs. Eleanora takes her robe off again, setting it beneath her towel.

She turns the water on, adjusting it to a comfortable temperature. She gets in, closing the curtain. A few minutes later, she is rinsing the shampoo out of her hair when a loud knock startles her.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Clark."

"What's wrong?"

"It's-" his voice breaks off suddenly.

"Clark? Are you okay?" She takes off her bracelet. Clark doesn't answer, but his hand clutches the curtain. She starts to freak out, before she remembers Clark falling to the floor of the guest room. His hand rips a piece of the curtain off, and she hears a body thump onto the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" She turns the water off and tears open the curtain. Clark is on the floor, his eyes closed and barely moving.

"Geez, Clark!" She grabs her robe and throws it on her, quickly tying it in the front.

"Lana, Nell, Lesley! Come here, quickly!" The sound of running footsteps rapidly approaches her ears. She helps Clark up, leaving her bracelet in her pocket.

"What happened?" Lana asks, noticing Eleanora's damp robe and Clark's semi-dry self.

"I don't know."

"We'd better get him to his parents," Lesley says, helping Eleanora brace Clark against their selves. She puts Clark's arm around her shoulders, Lesley does the same with the other around his shoulders. She puts her free arm around Clark's waist.

Eleanora tries to assure a half-conscious Clark that he'll be just fine, and she'd get him home. She doesn't even know what she's saying to him.

"We'd better hurry, Les!"

"Clark, we're almost to your door now, your front door. Hang in there!"

"He's not breathing!" They arrive at Clark's front door.

"Hold him, Eleanora!"

"Oh, but- Oof!" She holds Clark with both of her arms wrapped around his waist. His face is on her shoulder. Lesley knocks on the door. Mrs. Kent answers it.

"Hello, Lesley. Hello, Eleanora…" Her voice trails away, noticing Clark. "Bring him in." She says, without hesitation.

Lesley takes Clark off of Eleanora.

"Out of curiosity, why are you wet?"

"I took a shower."

"Then why is Clark wet?"

"Lesley threw him on me." Mrs. Kent looks doubtful.

"My husband's not back from the store yet, which worries me." Lesley looks around for a place to put Clark.

"Lay him down here." Mrs. Kent instructs Lesley. He gently sets Clark on the ground. Lesley takes out a stethoscope from his black bag.

"You're a doctor?" Mrs. Kent asks, surprised.

"Yes, a certified EMT. Here's my proof." He gives her his license.

She reads it, then gives it back. He takes Clark's tan jacket off, as well as his blue plaid shirt. He throws them at Eleanora.

"Thanks, Les," she says, her voice muffled. She walks to the next room.

"There's no swelling in his neck. His heartbeat is speeding up, now… I believe whatever happened to him it's over. He's back to normal."

"Thank you, doctor." Mrs. Kent says, relieved.

"Please, call me Lesley," he smiles at her.

Eleanora reaches into her pocket, pulling out her bracelet. She notices a small lead box in her pocket as well. Smiling, she remembers the day when Lex gave it to her. He'd promised whatever she put in it would be kept safe. She opened it, dropping the bracelet inside.

She closes it, coming out to the kitchen.

"There you are!"

"What?" She looks up, then smiles when she sees Clark standing in front of her.

"What's that box?" He asks.

"This? Lex Luthor gave it to Scarlett. She gave it to me before she…" Eleanora stops talking, noticing Clark's face.

"I'm sorry. I'll go," she turns to the door.

"Wait! Before you go, take this." He gives her a rectangular box.

"What is it?"

"My dad gave it to me, but you can have it. If you want."

"Don't you want it? It belongs to you!"

"I know, but I want you to have it."

"Clark. You don't know anything about me. You just met me this morning."

"I feel like I can trust you."

"I'll keep it safe, and someday I'll return it to you. I promise."

She turns around again.

"Eleanora!"

"Yes, Clark?"

"Thank you. For saving me."

"No problem! You owe me one," she teases. Lesley holds the door open for her.

"I'll see you around, Farmboy." She steps out and the door closes behind them. They walk back to Lana's.

"Lesley, do you think Clark likes me?"

"It was written all over his face."

"I mean, does he like the new me better than the old me?"

"I don't know yet."

"Come on, you're the detective here."

"True. But it's hard to tell right now."

"Hmm…"

"Why did Clark flip out in the bathroom?" Lesley asks.

"Maybe he has allergies?" Eleanora guesses as they walk inside.

"Get dressed!" Nell says, as a greeting.

"Clark's fine, by the way!" Eleanora shouts as she runs up the stairs. Closing the door, she feels a cold draft. She turns around, seeing her window wide open, the lace curtain fluttering.

"That's odd. It was closed when I left." Suddenly, she feels a tickle in her nose. She sneezes and the window bangs shut. She looks at it, both confused and startled.

"Okay, now that was odd." She gasps and turns around.

The person who spoke is wearing a red hoodie, jeans, red sneakers on his feet, and a red backpack with black straps and a gold lightning bolt logo with a black background on his right shoulder.

The box Clark gave her clatters to the floor.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" He looks at her, concerned.

"Who the hell are you? And why are you in my bedroom?"

"This is your bedroom?"

"Just answer the damn question!"

"I didn't know anyone lived here, honest! I just…" His voice trails away. "Wow! You're beautiful." He stares into her eyes, his mouth slightly open. Her face is flushed and her wet hair is frizzy. On top of it all, she's wearing nothing but her robe. The boy in red removes his hood.

He has golden brown hair that sticks up everywhere, and his eyes are brown. He reminds her of a lost puppy, for some strange reason.

"Uh, my name's Bart Allen."

"'Bart', huh? I'm Eleanora Brown." She holds her hand out. He looks at it, then back at her.

"It's a hand."

"I know that." Bart says, defensively.

"Do you shake hands?"

"Yes."

"I'm not going to bite you, Bart." He tentatively takes her hand, and shakes it. "There. That wasn't so hard!"

"So, what school do you go to?" He asks, sitting on her bed. She sits on the window seat.

"Actually, I'm homeschooled until next year."

"Oh."

"How old are you?" She asks him.

"15, why?"

"I was just wondering."

"How old are you?"

"14 ½." His watch beeps.

"Oh, geez! Hey, can we talk later?"

"What are you in a hurry for?"

"My boss is gonna kill me if I'm late again."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I… Can't tell you."

"Ohhh! Do you work for the FBI?"

"No. I'm not a spy. I'll tell you everything later. I promise."

"Where will I find you?" She asks, as he comes over to the window.

"Wherever you are, I'll be there in a flash." With that, he opens the window, climbs down the ladder, and is gone on the blink of an eye.

"So, who were you talking to?" Lana asks from the doorway. Eleanora's heart skips about 5 beats.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on! I saw the lightning backpack dude in red go out the window! Don't tell me you don't have a clue who he is!"

"I just met him like, ten minutes ago." Lana looks at her, then joins her on the window seat.

"Did he make a good first impression?"

"Well, better than Clark did."

"I guess seeing a naked girl soaking wet, and standing over you is worse than seeing a girl, in just her robe, in her bedroom."

"Clark didn't see anything."

"You like him that much, huh?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Why don't you tell him?"

"I don't want to ruin our friendship. Besides, Chloe seems better for him than I'd ever be."

"I think you'd be cute together."

"Has Clark always been so secretive?"

"As far as I can recall, yes. I'm thinking of letting him go as a friend."

Lana goes to Eleanora's bed, and sits on it. "Lana," Eleanora sits next to her. "Don't you think he deserves another chance?"

"I've given him plenty of chances to come clean with me, but so far nothing's changed."

"People change all the time. Just wait. He might surprise you one day. To be honest, I want to give him another chance too."

Eleanora thinks about what she said.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just said that!"

"It's okay, I knew you liked him the moment I first met you." Lana smiles at her. They side hug each other.

"You know what, Lana?"

"What?"

"I'm so glad I told you my secret. I know you'd never betray me."

"I'm glad you trusted me."

"Can I tell you another secret?"

"Okay." Eleanora stands up.

"Don't be mad at me. I am a real princess, but not of Ireland. I'm only half human."

"You're part alien?"

"Yes. Please don't be mad!"

"Oh my gosh! My royal friend's half alien!"

"I hope this doesn't make you afraid of me!"

"No, no, no, no! It's not like that! I'm just kind of freaked out right now!"

"Don't worry, Lesley told me 3 nights ago."

"Is that… all of your secret?"

"No. I think that wherever I come from, the people there have weird powers."

"Like what?"

Eleanora goes to the window and opens it. She sneezes and it bangs shut. Lana makes a funny sound, like she's trying to scream without anyone hearing.

"I can make anything happen that has to do with nature!"

"You mean, you can make plants engulf people from thin air?"

"Well, not thin air exactly. There has to be something natural that's there already or it doesn't work."

"Oh." They're silent for a while.

"How did you find the Kents?" Lana asks, lying on her side. Eleanora looks around the room. The door is closed and the window is shut.

"I was just going for a walk outside of the Luthor mansion. I didn't plan on going anywhere, but I found myself thinking what it must be like to not be rich. Then, I found myself walking through the Kents cornfield. I don't remember how I did it."

"That explains how you popped into Clark's life."

"What do you-" The door bangs open, Lana sits up quickly. Eleanora turns around.

"Sorry. I should have knocked first."

"That would have helped. Just wait for me out in the living room, Whitney," Lana says to him. He nods and goes out, closing the door behind him. He goes down the stairs.

"Remind me why you go out with him again?" Eleanora asks Lana, closing the lace curtain. Eleanora goes in the closet and tries on one of her swimsuits, to see if it fits her.

"I see the good in him. Whoa! What- where did that scar come from?" Lana points at Eleanora's left rib. She puts her robe on the bed, but doesn't answer.

"When did you get that burn mark?"

"What burn mark?"

"The one on your lower back!" Eleanora looks at it in the wall mirror.

"Oh! That burn mark! I got that just after I was born. Lionel told me so." The burn mark looks like a weird looking 'Z' with a strange design around it.

There's a loud knock on the door. Eleanora squeaks and grabs a shirt.

"Just a second!" Lana calls out, while helping Eleanora with her shirt.

"Ow! That's my ear, that's my ear! My arm is stuck!" She whispers to Lana.

"Fix it in the closet!" She shoves Eleanora inside.

Eleanora shuts the curtain, but doesn't close the door all the way. She works her arm free and starts to put a pair of jeans on.

"Hey, Lana. Is Eleanora here?"

"That depends. What do you want from her, Clark?"

"I just want to talk to her." Eleanora puts a light blue sweater on over her white tee shirt, then grabs a black belt.

"About what?" Lana asks.

"I want to know more about her. Since she's new."

"So you're her personal tour guide, now?"

"I never said that!"

"You implied it! Besides, it's her decision, Clark. You can get to know her better, when she gets back. She just went to the store. She'll be back in a minute."

"Okay. I'll wait with Whitney."

He leaves. Eleanora gets out as soon as she hears his footsteps go down the stairs.

"You look good!" Lana says to her.

"Thanks. You look very cute."

She smiles at Eleanora, her expression making her glow. Lana has a pink long-sleeve shirt on, blue jeans, and black heels. Her hair is in a messy half up, half down kind of hairstyle.

"Here. I'll help you with your hair."

"Thanks, Lana. By the way, why did you lie to Clark?"

Lana takes Eleanora's ivory hairbrush with polyester fibers, and starts brushing her hair.

"I didn't want him to find you in the closet."

"You're a good friend, Lana. I'm glad I found you." Eleanora feels Lana twist her hair for a while, then she stops. "Take a look."

Eleanora's hair is in a high bun, a few strands hanging around her face. "Thanks again, Lana."

"No problem!"

"We should go downstairs."

"Actually, you go out the window and come through the front door."

"Oookay?"

"Oh, and wear these." Lana gives her a pair of heels.

"Lana!"

"Trust me."

She smiles at her.

"Bon voyage!" Lana says to her.

"Merci, mademoiselle!" Eleanora opens the window and crawls out of it. Using her foot, she finds a ledge and carefully goes out on it. She goes down the side of the house. Her foot slips and she falls in the soft snow. She straightens up, dusting herself off.

She slips on the silver heels with sequined roses on the side of each shoe. Before she gets her key out, she brushes the dirt off of her shirt. She goes inside.

"There you are! We thought you got lost!" Nell embraces her briefly.

"So, Whitney. It's nice to meet you."

"And you too, Eleanora." Whitney is wearing his Smallville Crows jacket and blue jeans with gray tennis shoes.

"So, where were you?" Lesley asks Eleanora.

"Relax, Lesley. I just went to the store, then I took a walk."

"Did you see anything you liked?"

"Not really."

Lana clears her throat. "Ella, meet Clark Kent."

She looks at him, noticing the fact that he's wearing a green plaid shirt with worn out jeans and beat-up tan boots.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Life's been crazy lately! Plus, school's almost over! Yay! Yeah, pretty lame excuse for not updating, haha. Anyways, here's chapter 8! Hope you like it, or if you don't sorry. BTW, you can still post reviews, but you don't have to. It's your choice, people! ^^**

**Chapter 8**

"Hello again," Eleanora says to Clark.

"Hello." He looks at her, an odd expression on his face.

"Is it true what people are saying about Scarlett?" Whitney asks.

"Unfortunately, yes. But I'm sure she wouldn't want us talking about her when we've all just met."

"She always _did_ hate that," Lana remarks, nudging Clark.

"Um…Clark?"

He blinks out of his stupor, "Huh?"

"Welcome back to Earth! Didn't you want to talk to me about something?"

"Oh! Yeah. Um, would outside be alright?"

"Sure! I'll see you later, guys!" He holds the door open for her.

"Thanks, Clark!" They go out to the front porch.

"I don't know why, but you made me forget why I was so sad." Clark says to her, leaning against the wooden rail.

"Glad I can be known as an antidepressant," she replies, turning to face him. He comes closer to her. She backs up, a little flustered.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Things. Such as, how did you know Scarlett?"

Eleanora backs up as she continues to talk.

"We met when we were born. She was my best friend, Clark." By now, he's so close to her that she can smell his aftershave.

"Why do you ask?" She backs into the wood railing. He grabs her arm.

"What are you-" He scoops her up in his arms, and the next thing she knows, they're in his barn.

"Whoa! What just-"

"I wanted to talk. Where no one can look." He sets her down, gently.

"Don't you have parents?"

"They adopted me, actually."

"Oh."

"And the Kents are very kind. Kind enough to take me in, when I was 4. They found me in a cornfield the day of the meteor shower."

"Really?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

"My story's pretty depressing. Not as exciting as yours."

He props his chin in his hands. She laughs a little.

"Tell you what. If you save me from a near-death experience, I will tell you. I promise." She says.

He looks at her, slightly shocked.

"Hey, that's what everyone else has to do to hear my whole story." She shrugs.

He raises his head up.

"You know, Scarlett told me you were the best tour guide she'd ever had."

His face lights up, "She did?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wow!"

"Yeah, pretty cool. Lesley, the guy that was with me, he's shown me around Smallville."

"Is Lesley your boyfriend?"

"No! He's 27 years old, and I'm 14 ½. I'm pretty sure that's criminal if he dated me."

"So, what is he?"

"He's the closest thing I've got to a father. Ever since I was 4, he's been looking out for me. Watching my back, from a distance."

"Like a bodyguard?" "Not- Yeah! Like a bodyguard."

"Why do you need a bodyguard?" Clark asks, curious.

Eleanora hits her forehead with her hand, "Oh my gosh! I'm a total idiot! Why can't I keep my mouth shut!"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up! I'm sorry I asked."

"Don't be! I just have to learn a little self-control." They don't speak for a while. Suddenly, Clark's head jerks up.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

A moment later, she hears Lesley grunt, and a body hit the floor.

"Stop moving! AH!"

The sound of retreating footsteps is heard, along with Lesley swearing.

"Freaking mutant broke my nose!" He looks up, holding his nose.

"You alright there, Les?"

"Yeah, for the most part," he says through a mouthful of blood.

"Come here." A few moments later, Eleanora has his nose bandaged up.

"Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks," he winces as she cleans his wounds.

"Who would want to attack you, anyway?" Clark asks her, sitting down.

"I don't know." She replies, looking at Lesley.

"How did you know that person was a meteor infected person?"

"She tried to strangle me. With a piece of floss."

"Are you sure the person was female?"

"Yes. She swore at me, and said she'd kill you if it's the last thing she'd do."

"And she got away?" Eleanora looks at Lesley, shocked.

"She was too strong. I couldn't hold her."

"That's a first!"

"I know."

Eleanora's expression changes to sympathy. "Les, lay down. You should let yourself rest."

"I can't. the moment I do, something bad will happen to you. I'm sure if it."

"Relax! I've got people that can take care of me as well as you can."

"I can't take a day off until you're safely back at home. Even then I have to watch over you."

"Why?"

"I took an oath. I must watch over you until the day I die."

"That's horrible!"

"I know. I can't keep a relationship." He sits on the couch, overcome with emotion.

"Clark, could you give us a few minutes? Please?"

"Oh, sure. I'll be inside the house if you need me."

"Thanks!" He leaves, closing the doors behind him.

"Les…" Eleanora sits next to him. "What's wrong?" "I- I met this woman. This was 18 years ago. She was _breathtaking_. Golden hair, sparkling green eyes, warm smile, rosy cheeks, perfectly tan… I fell for her. And I fell hard. What I didn't know was she had a boyfriend already. If I'd known that, I never would have touched her."

"But you did, didn't you?"

"Yes. I didn't mean too, but we started a love affair. It lasted three blissful years. Then she called me one day and told me she was pregnant. With my child. I freaked out, and she apologized. She said her boyfriend found out, but she told him it was his. He believed her."

"Who was she? This woman?"

"Her name was Melaney Klare. Now her name is Melaney Martin. Your biological mother."

"What?"

"So I guess, I'm sort of your father."

"That's not true! You… You… Oh my gosh! You're my sister's father! Aren't you?"

He looks shifty.

"You _are_! But- but- Who- When- What?"

"I know."

"Well, then. What are you to me?"

"I don't know. My guess would be 'step-father'."

"But you never married my mother."

"It's just _my_ guess. Not a law." They are silent for a long time. The doors to the barn open with a bang. Both of them jump.

"Hello?" Eleanora calls out, her heart slowing down. Something sharp hits her chest. The room starts spinning fast. The last thing she sees is a shadow looming towards her, before she blacks out. She wakes up, blinking black spots from her vision.

She's in the Medical Center, lying on a bed with an oxygen tube under her nose and an I.V. stuck in her arm. Other wires are stuck in her arms as well as bandages on her hands. A familiar teen in plaid turns around.

"Clark?"

"Hey." He helps her sit up.

"How long was I out for?"

"Since October 24th. It's November 15th now." He pulls up a chair and sits in it.

"What hit me?"

"Believe it or not, it was a cyanide dart."

"Why aren't I dead?"

He looks over his shoulder at the closed door, and lowers his voice.

"I took you to a bridge. It was stormy outside, and I didn't really know what I was doing. You were barely breathing. Suddenly, lightning struck me in the back of my head. I almost dropped you, but caught your wrist before you slid over the edge. That's why your hands are bandaged. The reason why you didn't die is because, somehow, you got my powers."

"_What_ powers?" He covers his mouth. The doctor knocks on the door.

"Come in," Eleanora says, while Clark uncovers his mouth.

"Your comatose state has finally passed, Miss Brown. It's a miracle. Thanks to Mr. Kent here, you're still with us. But even so, Miss Brown needs her rest."

"I understand, Dr. Pearl. I was just saying goodbye to her." Dr. Pearl nods her head, her light brown hair shining.

"See you later, Clark."

"Bye, Eleanora."

The door closes, as Dr. Pearl smiles at her.

"Why don't you rest, Miss Brown?"

"Alright, Dr. Pearl." She closes her eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep.

"Eleanora? Can you hear me? Probably not. I just want you to know that I'm here. I wish you'd wake up. I miss you a lot. That sounded completely corny, but um… I do. Anyway, school's going pretty well. Lana kind of quit the cheer squad, but I'm still thinking of playing football next season." Clark takes Eleanora's hand, then continues his monologue. "I know, I know. You're probably thinking: 'Farm boy in a _uniform_? What has this world come to?' But um… I don't know, maybe not. Since you won't be joining the cheer squad anytime soon. Lana says you'd rather die than have to be restricted to a tank top and a mini skirt. At least, that's what you've heard about from Scarlett, no doubt."

The machines beep at him. Eleanora remains motionless, except for her chest rising and falling with every breath she takes.

"Scarlett probably told you about Chloe's 'Wall of Weird'. I wish you could see it! It's amazing! She's added about twenty more articles to it. Chloe's thinking of adding _me_ to 'The Wall', but Pete and I think she's kidding." He's silent for a while, then he says: "I hope you get better soon, Eleanora. We need to think of a nickname for you. Eleanora's a bit long to say… I've gotta go back to the farm. I'll see you soon," he kisses her forehead. She smiles in her sleep.

When Eleanora wakes up again, Chloe is sitting next to her.

"Wow, that was so scary! I thought you were dead!"

The I.V. is gone, as well as the bandages on her hands and the wires around her.

"Where's Clark?"

"Taking care of the farm. You talked in your sleep."

"That was a dream? It felt so real."

"What did you dream about?"

"I dreamt I woke up, and Clark was here. He told me I was hit by a cyanide dart."

"Well, you were. Oh! He _did_ say when he was here a few weeks ago, you'd come out of your coma. He was very happy, then sad after he found out you'd slipped into another one. Though this time, it was shorter."

"How long was I out for?"

"Just 5 days. It's November 20th now."

"I missed that much school?"

"Yeah. I brought your locker shrine. And some of mine, too."

"What else have I missed besides half of my freshman year?"

"More meteor people and Lana fighting with Whitney."

"Again?"

"Yeah. Sounded serious, but turned out just fine."

"That it?"

"Yeah, in a very short summary."

"By the way, I heard Clark's whole monologue about school and you. He mentioned your 'Wall of Weird'."

"That dude can't keep a lid on that!"

Eleanora smiles, "How many articles have you added?"

"Hmm… I don't know. About 30 or so."

"There are that many newspapers in Smallville?" Chloe punches her arm, playfully.

"Ow!" They burst into a fit of giggles that turn quickly into laughter. A loud ringing makes them scream.

"Oh. It's just my phone." Eleanora's chin quivers and she falls back onto her pillow, laughing. Chloe joins her, answering her phone.

"Hello?" She asks, still laughing. "Hey! No, I'm fine. Well, yeah she's awake… You want to _what_? Oh! No, I understand… Here she is."

Chloe hands the phone to Eleanora.

She places it in front of her right ear, "Hello?"

"Eleanora?"

She smiles.

"Hey Clark! How are you?"

"I'm great! Well, somewhat normal. How about you?"

"Pretty good, for the most part. I got your flowers, by the way."


	9. Chapter 9

**School's finally out! I'm so happy I could scream, but I won't or else the neighbors will hear me. ^^ Sorry it took so long for me to update! Hope you enjoy this chapter! I tried to make it a little less cheesy than I had originally written it. Let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 9**

"Do you like them?"

"Yes, they're beautiful! How did you know roses are my favorite? Especially pink ones!"

"I did a little research."

"From your tone, I'm guessing Lesley told you."

"Yeah, he did."

"What's that noise?"

"I'm driving with the windows open."

"But it's almost winter!"

"I know."

"You're so weird, Farm boy."

"I know! I'll be there soon."

"Be where? At the hospital?"

"Didn't I say that?"

"Whatever, Clark! I'll see you soon," Eleanora says, laughing a bit.

"Okay, bye."

"Bye." She presses the "end" button on Chloe's phone.

"Interesting conversation."

"Yeah, it was. Bit confusing, though."

Chloe grins, slipping her phone back into her purse.

"You look pretty, by the way." Eleanora says, changing the topic.

"Thanks, Ellie!" Chloe puts on her tan jacket over her pink tee shirt, straightening it out. She stands up, smoothing her dark blue jeans.

"Has Clark ever asked you out?"

"No, we're just friends."

"Oh."

There's a moment's pause.

"Chloe, would it be weird if I tell you something? About Clark?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Okay. I'll take that as a 'yes'. When I first met Clark, I thought I'd seen him before. I just don't remember when or where. Is that possible?"

Chloe thinks about this. "Well, it's not common, but I suppose it's possible. The world's small."

"Maybe a bit _too_ small."

"Do you remember anything about your life here when you were little?"

"The only memory I can recall clearly was when I was a Luthor. Lex was 6 or so, and I was around 5. We were walking through the cornfields here in Smallville. There was a big explosion, and Lex and I got separated. He became bald that day, but I stayed the same. I'd been flung into a crater, and I saw…" Eleanora pauses.

"What did you see?"

"You'll laugh at me."

"I won't! I love weird things, you know that."

"Okay… In the crater with me was a weird looking spaceship. I saw someone come out of it. This someone was a boy. Though he didn't have any clothes on."

"And you think that boy was Clark?"

"I don't know. I doubt it. But for some reason, Clark reminded me of that boy."

"That _is_ weird."

"What's weird?"

Eleanora and Chloe look at the doorway.

"Hey, Farm boy!" Eleanora greets him.

"When are you gonna stop calling me that?"

"When someone stops saving me from cyanide darts," she smiles at him. He's wearing a red plaid polo shirt, jeans, and his beat up tan boots.

"So is plaid like a farm thing?"

"You sound like Lex."

"I've met Lex, and he's… pretty nice. From what I've seen and Chloe's told me."

"Hey, don't bring me into this conversation!"

"Too late! So did Dr. Pearl say I could go?"

"Yeah. I'll walk you home, if you'd like."

"Thanks, Clark!" She sits up, a little too quickly. "Whoa, head rush!" She nearly falls off the bed.

"Take it easy. Come on, Eleanora." He puts her arm around his neck, and puts his other arm around her waist.

He helps her get on her feet. As soon as she feels the cold tiles under her feet, she feels stronger.

"Clark, thanks for helping me up, but I can take it from here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah!"

He gingerly lets her go. She sways a little, and then steadies herself.

"Good?"

"I'm good!"

"Awesome!"

She smiles at him.

"Have we met somewhere before?" He asks.

"I don't think so."

"You look familiar."

"Guess I have one of those faces."

"Do-"

"Okay. Hate to rain on your parade, but Eleanora needs to wear something other than that hospital gown."

"But I don't know where-"

Chloe takes a change of clothes out of her bag.

"Thanks, Chloe! You saved my life!"

"Clark, out."

"Yes ma'am!" He shuts the door behind him.

"I won't look!" Chloe turns around.

"So has anything new happened that I should know about?"

"Well… Clark saved Lex Luthor's life and now they're best friends."

"Wow! That's amazing!"

"Yeah. You done yet?"

"Hold on… Yup, you can turn around."

"Whoa! What happened to the girl in the hospital gown I saw five minutes ago?"

"She's still here!"

"You look fantastic!" Chloe says, smiling. Eleanora returns her smile, smoothing out a pretty pink skirt and adjusting her white blouse. "Fits you well."

"Thanks, Chloe. Though I can never compare to your beautiful smile!"

"Aww, thanks."

Someone knocks on the door.

"Come in!" Eleanora says, flipping her hair out from under her shirt.

"Hey, I was wondering if…" Clark's voice trails away as he looks at Eleanora.

"You were wondering if…?"

"Eleanora was ready to go, and wow! You look pretty!"

"Thanks, Farm boy!"

"Well you two have a lot of catching up to do, so I'm gonna go to the Beanery. Bye!"

"Bye, Chloe!" The other two chorus, as they walk out of the Center.

"I heard you saved Lex Luthor's life. That's pretty exciting, right?"

"Guess so. Now I'm the best friend of a millionaire's son!"

"I thought he was a billionaire?"

"I don't know. I just saved someone's life. That's all I really care about."

"How did you save his life?"

"He lost control of his car and ran off a bridge. I just jumped in and found him. I pulled him out of the car, swam him to shore, and then called 911. That's all."

"Must have been some bridge."

"It was, yeah."

"Clark, you know I could hear your entire monologue about your whole football crisis, right?"

"You heard all that?" He blushes a little.

"I was touched by how much you trusted me with."

"I was mostly rambling."

"I didn't think you were. I enjoyed hearing about that. You made me feel like I was there with you. Not in a hospital looking like a human robot! I felt sorta normal."

"Speaking of sorta normal, I like it."

"What do you mean?"

"When I saved you, I brought you to the bridge."

"Oh, yeah! You told me that I got your powers. You must have gotten mine, somehow."

"You have amazing powers!"

"Thanks, I haven't tried yours out yet."

"Try running."

She takes his hand. "Only if you come with me."

"If you really want-"

"I do." She takes off.

"Run faster!"

She does so, except this time they seem to be the only two people moving, while everything else is at a standstill. She stops at his barn door.

"Whoa! Apparently I'm not the _only_ one with amazing powers! What else can you do?"

"I don't know. I'm still getting them. So be-" A strong feeling comes over her, and suddenly the barn door is on fire. "-Careful," Clark finishes, hesitantly.

"What do I do?"

"I don't know! This has never happened to me before! Uh, try putting it out with something!"

She looks around. "There's nothing here to put it out with!"

"What about your hands?"

"Are you crazy? I'll get third degree burns from that!"

"Just try it!"

"Fine. If it makes you happy."

She touches the burning door, expecting to be burned. Instead, she feels soft warmth. Soon, she put out all the fire on the barn door. Nothing is left of it except for burned wood and ashes.

"I'm really sorry, Clark." She says, wincing.

"That's a new one!"

"But um, that was _totally_ awesome!"

He smiles at her, moving closer. She runs around him.

"Over here, Farm boy!" She says from inside the barn. He goes inside, looking confused. "I'm not an easy girl to woo, Clark Kent."

"You move fast."

"Good thing I can now!" Eleanora smiles playfully at him.

"I wonder if you've found out my other hidden powers, yet."

"Powers like what?"

His eyes flash.

"AH! Clark, let me go!"

"Relax, just walk forward."

She looks at the 3-inch thick vines around her wrists, ankles, and waist.

"Come on, Eleanora."

She walks towards Clark, feeling the vines break off. She stops right in front of him.

"Very good."

She smiles at him again.

"Um…" He loses his train of thought as he looks at her. She waits patiently. He puts a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Can I show you something?" He asks, after a while.

"Sure!"

"It's easier to see when you're in the loft."

"Lead on, Farm boy!"

"Clark?"

"In here, Dad!" He replies. Footsteps come into the barn. Eleanora turns around.

"There you are! We were worried about you, since you weren't at the Medical Center."

"Sorry, Dad."

She looks at Clark.

"Oh, sorry. Dad, this is Eleanora Brown. Eleanora, this is my dad, Jonathan Kent."

She shakes his hand, "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Kent."

"You as well, Miss Brown."

"You can call me Eleanora."

"Alright then. Eleanora it is."

"What did you want from me, Dad?"

"Just wondering if you've done your chores yet."

"I haven't finished chopping the wood, yet."

"Get to it then."

"Yes, Dad. See you later, Eleanora."

"Bye, Farm boy!"

He leaves, carrying an axe.

"How long have you been in Smallville for?"

"Just a few months, and that's including the time I was in the Medical Center."

"Clark told me you were there, but he never said why."

She opens her mouth to speak.

"AH!" Clark shouts. She and Mr. Kent run out, quickly. Clark is lying on his back in the dirt driveway.

"What happened, son?" Mr. Kent asks, concerned. Eleanora has troubles focusing on Clark's face, since his plaid shirt is draped over the wooden fence. He gets up; pointing at the wood on the wood block, sweat glistening off his bare chest and shoulders.

"The axe got stuck in that piece of wood, and I tried to get it out. That's when I fell over, did this weird back flip, and landed on my arm. It surprised me more than anything, but it was kinda fun!"

"Why couldn't you get the axe out, son?" Mr. Kent looks surprised.

"Umm… I sorta lost my temper with the axe, and threw it down. That's how it got stuck."

Eleanora looks away from Clark, and goes over to the wood block.

Mr. Kent begins to ask: "Where's Eleanora?"

"Got it!" Eleanora says, triumphantly holding the axe up.

"How did you do that?"

"She's good at chopping wood," Clark says, a little too quickly.

"Is she, now?" Mr. Kent looks interested.

"Yeah. I've been chopping wood for a long time," Eleanora adds, catching on fast.

"But that doesn't explain how-"

"Clark exaggerated when he said he threw the axe down. It didn't go far."

"So, can she help?"

"If she wants to, she can. We could always use extra help. Just be careful, the axe's got some weight to it!"

"Thanks for the warning, but I think I can handle it, Mr. Kent!" She puts a good-sized piece of wood on the block, and then swings the axe straight down onto it. In a few strokes, there are 4 evenly clean-cut pieces of wood on the block.

"You weren't bluffing, son! She _is_ good! Well, I'll be inside. Call me when you've finished." He walks back to the house, taking his work gloves off.

"Will do, Dad!" Clark calls back.

In about an hour, they quit for a break (on Clark's behalf).

"You still did more than me."

"True. But without your powers, I wouldn't be able to lift that axe that many times!"

"Glad my powers can be put to good causes. Such as helping my family's farm stay here."

She smiles at him, as they go inside the barn. Clark leads the way. She notices something. "Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"You've got this weird looking beetle on your back. Your lower back."

"Would you get it off of me?"

"It's not- okay, I will! Just hold still…"

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Well, I can't see very well here!"

"Fine, we'll go up to the loft!"

"Okay the light's better up here… Turn around!" He does so. As soon as her hand touches the metallic shell of the leech like beetle, Clark suddenly stumbles forward and falls onto the couch. Eleanora lands on his bare chest, her face inches from his.

"Are you okay, Clark?"

"Yeah, you?"

She nods, and then shows him the beetle.

"You _did_ get it!" He says, surprised.

"Of course! Must be a first for you!"

"Actually, I've had more awkward moments then this before."

She laughs a little, "I meant having someone taking a beetle off your back!"

"Oh, then, yes! This is a first." He smiles at her, and she returns his smile. They lean in closer to each other, their lips beginning to meet.


	10. Chapter 10

**(A/N: BTW, this next chapter is rated M for language.)**

**Chapter 10**

"Clark, you've been out here for over two hours! Have you finished yet?"

"Damn, it's your father!"

"He'll freak out if he walks in right now!"

Eleanora quickly gets off of him, throwing the beetle in the trash.

"Sweetheart, are you in here?" Mrs. Kent's voice comes from inside.

"Yeah, Mom. Up here!"

"He's in the loft, Jonathan!" She calls. Eleanora runs out to the back of the barn, grabbing a pile of wood and walking it to the wood block.

"Hey there, Mr. Kent!"

"Eleanora! Have you been working all this time?"

"Of course not, Mr. Kent." She sets the pile down, wiping her brow out of habit.

"Clark helped me out, mostly. He decided to take a short break, just now. And then he was gonna finish. I said it was fine, and I'll try to do what I can to make it easier for him."

"You look exhausted! Why don't you come inside for a break?" Mr. Kent asks her, looking concerned.

"There's still so much to do-"

"Clark can finish this, Eleanora. Come inside, please!"

"If you insist, Mr. Kent." She follows him inside.

"Hello, Eleanora! Glad to see you're back on your feet."

"Thanks, Mrs. Kent! I don't suppose Clark told you what happened?"

"He said you were in a coma when he found you. He called the Medical Center and that was it."

This surprises Eleanora. Clark doesn't seem like the kind of guy that keeps secrets from his parents.

"He didn't say anything else?"

"No, he didn't."

"Just out of curiosity, why do you ask?" Mr. Kent looks at Eleanora.

"I thought he told you the real reason why I'm standing on my own two feet?"

"And that would be because…?" Mrs. Kent asks. Eleanora takes a deep breath.

"Okay. I'll tell you how I came to be in a comatose state. Lesley was talking to me about this new job he'd gotten. His first day would be coming up soon. He asked if I'd like to go with him, but I told him that I like it here in Smallville. He asked me why I like it here, and I was just about to tell him when I heard a noise. I turned around. That's when a cyanide dart hit my chest, and I blacked out."

"If a cyanide dart hit you in the chest, why aren't you dead?" Mrs. Kent asks, curious.

Eleanora is just about to tell her, when Clark comes in.

"Okay, I finished all of my chores- Oh!" He notices his father's angry face, his mother's confused one, and Eleanora's ashamed one.

"Am I interrupting something?" He has his shirt in his hand.

"Son, are you keeping secrets from us?" Mr. Kent asks, his eyes narrowing.

"Why would I keep secrets from you?"

"I don't know, why _would_ you?"

"Look, I-" The front door opens, crashing into the wall. Clark stops mid sentence, as everyone stares at the man in the doorway.

"Knock much, Lesley?" Eleanora asks. He looks at the slightly chipped paint on the wall.

"Ooh, sorry about that! Didn't mean to nearly break your door," he says, awkwardly.

"Um, I've gotta go. See you later, Clark. Good night Mr. and Mrs. Kent," Eleanora says, following Lesley out the door.

"Good night, Eleanora!" They chorus at different times. The door closes.

Suddenly, Eleanora hears it echo loudly in her head, along with Lesley's footsteps pounding on the earth, the wind roaring through the trees and crops, the various calls of birds, the weather vane creaking, and several jumbled voices. She clutches her head, swaying a little.

"Eleanora? Are you okay?" Lesley asks, steadying her.

She ignores him, finding Clark's voice in the entire din.

"Dad? Are you-"

"What were you thinking, son!" Mr. Kent sounds outraged. **(A/N: In this part, Eleanora's hearing the conversation. She's not actually seeing it. Just thought you should know that, so you won't be confused! ^^)** Clark paces back and forth, his father has his arms crossed, and his mother has a worried look on her face.

He turns around, "I have a confession to make… I lied to you two. The reason why I don't have my usual strength is because I switched my powers with Eleanora's." The house is quiet for a while.

"I can't believe you would flat out lie to us, Clark. To _us_! The ones who took you in, and raised you as their own!"

"Dad, I'm sorry! The day she was shot with the cyanide dart, I took her to a bridge. She was minutes away from death, Dad. I switched powers with her to save her!"

"Clark, be careful with this girl. She could be dangerous."

"Mom, she's not like Eric! She's like _me_!" He emphasizes each word. A few crows fly off the scarecrow, cawing like crazy, making Eleanora lose her focus for a second. She concentrates back on the Kents conversation.

"Sweetie, _we_ don't know her as well as you do. By the way, what happened to the barn door?" Mrs. Kent continues.

"She just needs time to adjust to her powers. Like I'm learning how to."

"We're trying to look out for you, Clark. We don't want this girl to hurt you," Mr. Kent says, seriously.

"Her name is Eleanora, not 'this girl'! And she doesn't want to hurt _anyone_!" Clark walks to the door, fuming.

"Clark, calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down, Dad! I feel closer to Eleanora than anyone I've ever met before. Maybe her showing up in Smallville when she did wasn't a coincidence. Maybe it was fate that she met me!"

"Clark, think about this before you jump to conclusions. Why did you save her?"

"She was about to die! What was I supposed to do? Let her?" Clark asks, looking defensive.

"I never said anything like that!" His father says, uncrossing his arms.

"You don't get it! I think Eleanora is worth saving!" Clark's fist slams down on the table.

He ignores the slight pain.

"Why? What do you know about her?" His father asks.

"She said that she feels scared and alone in this world. She's been put through rough times, but she hasn't lost herself along the way! You may think she'll betray me, but I know she'll keep my secret!" Clark claims, his pacing now ceased.

"Will she?" His father argues, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course she will. She said, she'll _never_ tell my secret to a single living thing until she's lying in her grave! Does that prove that she's trustworthy, Dad?" Clark asks, turning to his father.

"It proves that she's a loyal friend Clark. It doesn't necessarily prove she's trustworthy."

"What more do you want from her? A signed contract?" Clark folds his arms.

"Don't take that tone with me, young man!" His father says sharply, his eyes flashing.

"What I'm saying is that I trust her!"

"And we get that, sweetheart! We're just worried about you, that's all." Mrs. Kent puts her hand on Clark's shoulder.

"I didn't want her to die."

"Just like everyone else?"

"Dad, I think I love her! I mean, it would make sense right? Think about it… Just when I needed someone, she showed up at our door!"

"And told us your friend died."

"I know, Mom! But then I started to tell her things and she didn't laugh at me or say I was crazy! I have to tell her how I feel!"

"Clark, wait!" Mr. Kent calls to him, before the door opens and then closes. Eleanora loses concentration, wobbling. Lesley catches her again.

"Les?"

"Oh, thank goodness!"

"Clark's on his way to tell me how he feels. He says, he thinks he loves me!"

"You should get home! Come on, little love bug!"

They go inside Lana's house, and the bear hug Lana gives her nearly flattens Eleanora.

"Hey, Lana! Why the big welcome back? I was in the hospital!"

"You scared everyone! Including Lex Luthor!" Lana says, releasing her.

"Wow! I didn't know I was that popular!"

"But all joking aside, you should talk to him." There's a knock on the side door.

"Ella?"

"Yes, Nell?"

"Clark's here. He wants to talk to you."

"Oh, okay." Eleanora begins to walk to the side door. She hears footsteps behind her. "Lesley, I'm not gonna get hurt!"

"I have to protect you!"

"Can you protect me from a distance? It's a private conversation."

"Okay, but-"

"I'll make sure things don't get out of hand."

"Fine. You've got 10 minutes." He leaves.

She opens the door. Clark turns around, his tan jacket fluttering.

"Hey, Farm boy!"

"I visited you at the hospital for every day you were there!"

"Oookay?"

"That's not what I really wanted to say."

"What _did_ you really want to say?"

"Well, I figured out…" He takes her hands in his. "I- Eleanora, I really like you. I might even _love_ you."

"I know." He looks at her in confusion. "I- I mean, I understand. I feel the same way about you."

"Did you happen to hear anything?"

"I didn't mean to, but yes. Just when you were arguing with your parents; I didn't hear anything else," She says, half truthfully.

"Oh," He looks sheepishly at the opposite wall.

"Clark, can you promise me something?" He's surprised by this question.

"Yeah, sure."

"Promise me you won't tell anybody about this. Not even your parents."

"Oh my gosh, you're not pregnant, are you?"

"What? Hell, no!"

"Then what is it?"

She looks all around the house, and the she speeds them over to his barn. She x-rays it (as she later realizes that's what she did). No one is there except for the horses and the two of them. She turns back to him.

"I went to Lana's house a month and some days ago, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when I woke up a month ago, I'd slept through 3 days."

"That it?"

"That and this…" She takes a deep breath. "Clark, I can't keep this from you anymore. I'm an-"

Lana's voice interrupts her, "Hey!" She looks at Clark and Eleanora. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Sorta, yeah."

"Whoa! What the hell happened to the door?" She asks, noticing it.

"Oh. That was my fault. We had a bunch of candles in lanterns. One of them fell and broke against the door. We killed the fire, but weren't in time to save the door," Clark lies, with a believable tone. Eleanora squeezes his hand as a thank you.

"Must have been terrifying!" Lana sounds genuinely concerned.

"It was! Last time _we'll_ be using lanterns in here." They all laugh.

"Well, I'll see you later Farm boy." Eleanora kisses his right cheek without knowing why, and then lets his hand go.

"I'll see you at the house, Ella!" Lana says to her.

"I'll let Nell know!" She turns around and leaves. Once she's outside the barn, she hears something. She retraces her steps quietly.

"Yeah, I know! I really _do_ like her."

"Isn't this a 'Romeo and Juliet' sort of thing?" Lana asks, in a teasing tone.

"I think it's love at first sight, actually."

"Have you asked her out yet?"

"I was going to, but I forgot."

"Clark, if you don't claim her soon, she'll give up on you!"

"Have you told her yet?"

"About Whitney? No. Clark, she's been through a lot already! I don't want to burden her with another secret! I _hate_ lying to her."

"Same here, but she deserves to know."

"I'll tell her tonight, okay?"

"Alright." He hugs her goodbye. Eleanora feels the smallest twinge of jealousy, but it quickly goes away.

Lana turns around, walking towards her. She dashes inside Lana's house and up to her room. She strips off her silver heels, the light blue shirt, and her jeans. Snatching up her nightgown, she slips it over her head. Lana's footsteps come closer to her room. She grabs a book and throws on her robe as she hears a gentle knock. She leaps on the bed, turning her lamplight on.

Fixing her hair she says in a calm voice, "Come in!" The door opens.

"Hey!" Lana says.

"Oh, hey Lana!" Eleanora replies, looking up from her upside down book.

"Why was your book upside down?"

"I was trying to see if I could read like that, but I guess I can't! What's up?"

"Nothing, really… Can I tell you something?" She sits on her bed.

"You can tell me anything, Lana. You know that, right?" Eleanora puts her book down.

"Umm… It's about Whitney." Lana looks at the floor.

"Uh-oh."

"No, it's not that! He's just-" Lana takes a deep breath. "He's talking about enlisting in the Marines."

"What?" Eleanora asks, shocked.

"I know! He wants to get a football scholarship before he leaves, but I'm trying to talk him out of it." She looks about ready to cry.

"Lana, it's his decision to make. Besides, a football scholarship would be great for him!"

"I just don't want to lose him!" She bursts into tears.

"Hey," Eleanora says softly, hugging her.

"I can't! I just can't!" Lana sobs into her shoulder.

"Shh, I'm here for you. It's gonna be okay. Shhh!" A tear slips down her cheek. They both cry themselves to sleep.

In the morning, Eleanora wakes up to the smell of bacon and eggs. Lana is still sleeping. Not wanting to wake her up, she slips very gently out of the bed. Lana's eyelids twitch. Eleanora stands still. Her eyes don't open. She breathes out, relieved, and then goes out the door. She closes it quietly, and creeps down the stairs.

The second one from the top creaks loudly.

"Shh!" She chides it. The others are just as creaky. "Shh! Please shut up!" She whispers to the stairs. The last one creaks extra loud. "Are you finished?" The floor creaks. "Thank you," She mutters, sarcastically.

"Ella?"

"Good morning, Nell!"

"I didn't hear you come in last night. Is everything alright?" She notices her messy hair and slightly puffy eyes.

"Lana told me about Whitney. She's still sleeping. I tried not to wake her."

"That's very thoughtful of you, dear! I'm sure she appreciates it." They eat their breakfast in silence. Lana comes down the stairs as they clean off their dishes.

"Hey, Lana! Sleep well?" Nell asks, kindly.

"Yeah. Um, do you mind if I quickly run to Clark's? I want to talk to him before he disappears, again."

"Of course I don't mind. Just come back for breakfast, okay?"

"I will! Ella, will you come with me? I need a witness."

"Oh, okay." She gets up, adjusting her robe.

"Don't forget your shoes! It's supposed to snow!"

"Yes, Nell!"

They go out the door.

"What do you need a witness for?"

"I have a bone to pick with Clark! And it's about you."

"What did I do?"

"Nothing!"

"I'm totally confused!"

"You'll see soon." Lana knocks on the door. Clark opens it.

"Good morning, Lana!"

"I need to talk to you!"

"Do you want to come in?"

"Without your parents hearing."

The trio goes to the barn loft.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Clark asks, just as confused as Eleanora.

"How is it that she's still alive?"

"I don't-"

"The last person she was with was Lesley, and he doesn't have any kind of a secret."

"What's your point?"

"_You_ are the only person I know of that's keeping something from me. I want to know what the deal is!"

"Lana I-" He begins.

"I don't want any more excuses, Clark! What are you keeping from me?"

He suddenly kisses her flat on the mouth. Eleanora's heart shatters, and she bites her lower lip to keep from completely breaking down.

Lana throws Clark off of her then she slaps him across the face so hard that it sounds like a gunshot.

"What the _hell_ is the matter with you?" She says, furiously as she wipes her mouth on the back of her hand. Clark's eyes widen as he realizes what he did.

"Oh my gosh! What did I just do?" He mumbles to himself, rubbing the place where Lana hit him. Eleanora looks at him, tears running down her face. She runs out, but not at super speed.

"Eleanora!" He calls, moving to run after her. Lana holds him back.

"That was so cruel! Leave her _alone_ Clark! You've manipulated her long enough. I can't believe you would lead her on like that!" She turns on her heel and runs after Eleanora.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi! Sorry about that cliffhanger (I know I'm evil! Mwah ha ha ha ha!) Please let me know what you think! I'd like to hear from a live person! Enjoy this chapter! Laters!**

**Chapter 11**

Eleanora doesn't stop running, until she reaches a bridge. She feels rain pouring down on her, and she completely breaks down. She sits down, still sobbing. The rain mingles with her tears. _I should have known better than to fall for those stupid baby blue eyes of his! I can't believe I was so naïve!_ She thinks bitterly to herself.

She hears footsteps approaching her. She opens her eyes, her sobs starting to become more controllable.

"Hey, you okay?" She feels relieved. The familiar guy standing in front of her underneath a yellow umbrella is wearing a blue poncho and black rain boots. He has a red rain hat on over his light brown hair.

"Hey, Jackson!"

"What's with the Minnesotan accent?"

"Alias."

"Oh! I'm so out of the loop. Kinda sucks living in Wichita for all my life. What's your new name?"

"Eleanora Brown, now."

"EB sound like a good nickname?"

"Sure. EB will do."

"Then you're Jackson Brown."

"Shout my name out to the universe, why don't you!"

"Yep, you're definitely my 16 year old cousin, Jackson!"

"Who whooped your butt in paintball!"

"Only because I wasn't paying attention!"

"You weren't paying attention to the _game_, but the guys…"

"Shut up! That wasn't as bad as my 10th birthday party! Remember? At Lex's house?"

"Don't say it!" He picks her up and tickles her. She laughs, and then they're both in the headlights of a red truck. They scream and leap out of the way. Jackson's umbrella gets ran over by the truck.

"Crap! Now I don't have an umbrella for you!"

"Damn that stupid truck, big cos!"

He laughs at her, "Let's go before we catch pneumonia!"

As they walk to Jackson's house, they tell each other about what they've been up to. Well, more of a summary than an actual story (on Eleanora's part). Jackson's new job is at The King of Diamonds Club in the Metropolis area. The owner of The King of Diamonds Club also owns The Ace of Clubs. Jackson warns Eleanora that The King of Diamonds is an entertainment club.

"What exactly do you mean by 'entertainment'?"

"There's the usual singing and dancing thing everyday, and then it's kind of a… Oh, what was it called? Ah, damn. I forgot what it was called at night. I'll tell you when I remember."

"Is it a gentlemen's club?"

"No, but only those that are rich can get in."

"So, I couldn't join, right?"

"Unless you've got a job there, or you're with a rich guy or girl. Otherwise, you can't go in."

"Not even if you're visiting someone?"

"You have to be invited. I can't tell you how many people have been thrown out because they didn't have an invitation!"

"Must be pretty tight security!"

"Yeah, it is. I keep having to show them my I.D. card even though I started working 2 months ago."

"Can employees invite people?"

"Only the singers and dancers can. The main ones, that is."

"So _you_ can't?"

"No. I can."

"You sing?"

He blushes, "Not very well, but they were nice enough to let me audition. Apparently, I was good enough for them. I got the most amount of applause."

"I heard that they're really rude to anyone that's not in their club."

"That's just a rumor. The people that get thrown out are the rude ones. Everyone there is really courteous and friendly."

"To newcomers or just in general?"

"Everyone's like that in general. Even the owner. Actually, _especially_ the owner. He's the one that makes sure everyone's treating each other right. Anyone who steps out of line (even the biggest star) is banned from the club and shunned by society."

"You know someone-"

"No! I witnessed it. And it scared me a bit. You tend to get used to it." Jackson opens the door.

"Here we are! Home, sweet home!"

"Whoa!" It looks like The Beanery, except there's a big winding silver staircase and the tall ceiling is covered in glittery lights.

"That's beautiful!" Eleanora says, pointing up at the big green crystal chandelier hanging down from the middle of the ceiling. It's almost directly in the center of the winding staircase.

"Yeah, my boss gave it to me. He said he didn't want it anymore. I can sorta see why, since it was made out of meteor rock."

"_I_ like it!"

"I can't do anything with it. Boss says it looks good where it is now."

"Is that coffee?"

"Yep. The best there is! Want some?"

"Yes please!" She sits down on the black leather couch. The plasma screen T.V. is about the same size as the blue wall it's mounted on.

"Oliver Queen helped me decorate this place."

Eleanora nearly drops her crystal mug. "You know Oliver Queen?"

"Yeah, he's one of my closest friends. Partially because he owes me his life. I saved him from a falling sound system. He told the press it was a natural disaster, but he knew that I had a special gift."

"Did you tell him about it?"

"Of course I did… Later. You see; it's not easy to cover up the fact that I happened to be floating in mid-air while I was asleep. He asked me where I came from. I told him I was raised here in Kansas. He looked doubtful, so I said I honestly didn't know where I was born. He asked if I'd gotten my powers from the meteor shower, and I told him I'd always had them. I also told him I was an alien from a planet called Merin. Then I made some weird space joke, that I thought was really lame after I'd said it."

"That tends to happen a lot, but they _are_ amusing!"

"Thanks, EB! Anyway, he was quiet for a while, so I assumed I was going to be sent away. Then he started to chuckle really softly. This surprised me. I asked him what was so funny. He said that _I _was, and he liked funny people. I said, 'So you don't care that I'm an alien?' He said, 'As long as _you_ don't care that I'm rich!' I said I didn't, and we settled that matter." Jackson takes a sip of water before continuing.

"He asked me if I'd like to live in Metropolis permanently. I told him I wouldn't mind that. So, I packed my bags and moved here. He has an eye for style, and helped me pick out a new wardrobe and decorate this place. It sorta looks like his place."

"I wouldn't know."

"Tell you what. Come to The KOD Club sometime and sing. Just for me and no one else!"

"No. Way."

"_Please?_ It would mean a lot to me!"

Jackson pouts at her. She looks at him with a raised eyebrow. Then she rolls her eyes and sighs, "Fine, I'll do it! But it's only because you won't stop asking until I do!"

"Yay!" He hugs her tightly.

"Okay, calm down!"

"Hey, as long as you're here, do you want to stay for a while?"

"Maybe just for tonight. I don't want to worry anybody back in Smallville."

"Sounds reasonable. The guest rooms are upstairs to your right. That's the closest one."

"But I don't have any other clothes than what I'm wearing!"

"You can borrow some of mine!"

"Won't they be too big?"

"True… How fast can you sew?"

"Not fast enough to make an outfit in an hour!"

"Than I guess you'll _have_ to stay!"

"_Or_ I can wear this again!"

"Fine… But you will stay sometime soon?"

"When I can't find any reason to stay in Smallville, then yes. I will stay here with you."

"Promise?"

"I promise!"

"Scout's honor?"

She holds up three fingers, "Scout's honor."

"Cross your heart?"

She crosses it, "Cross my heart."

"Okay then! Night!"

"Night, Jackson!" She goes up the stairs and walks into the guest room.

She nearly faints. The walls are deep red with sparkling gold loopy curlicues interlocking with the others. The ceiling is the same as the walls, minus the curlicues. There's a silver nightstand with an alarm clock on it along with a phone and notebook. The bed is a queen sized one, with silky golden sheets and at least ten different sized pillows, alternating deep red, red, and gold.

The comforter is deep red and is soft and plushy. There's a walk-in closet that has nothing but a bunch of hangers and shelves above the clothes rack. The oak dresser is painted deep red with gold handles for the drawers, and the armoire matches it. The cherry desk has a built in bookshelf and the newest computer near the back of it.

The built in bookshelf is filled with classic books and new books. There's enough extra space on the surface of the desk (and on top of it) for twenty more of the same computers to sit side by side, in perfect rows. Everything is twice the size of anything she's seen before.

She opens the doors of the armoire and a plasma screen T.V. (not as large as the one in the living room) is inside. The drawers below it are filled with all kinds of DVDs. On top of the dresser is a remote. She presses the "on" button. There's a soft rumble and the top of the wall over the dresser opens like a pair of doors, and reveals a second T.V. (like the one in the armoire) along with the newest sound system.

"Whoa!" Eleanora says, in a weird squeak.

She falls asleep watching the news channel. While she's asleep, Jackson comes into her room and turns the T.V. off. He closes the top of the wall, cursing how much noise it's making. Then he gently shuts the armoire doors and tucks the comforter under Eleanora's chin. She smiles slightly at something in her dream.

There's a knock on the door. He backs out of her room, softly closing the door. He goes down the stairs, opens the stained glass door, and sees a rain soaked girl in a poncho standing on his doorstep.

"Oh my gosh! You'd better come in before you get hypothermia," he says, showing her in.

Her teeth chatter, and her eyes widen as she takes in the whole place.

"The fireplace is right there, and I think I've got some warm drinks in the kitchen. I'm Jackson Brown by the way! Who are you?" He says this all quickly, but she seems to catch it all.

"L-Lana L-Lang." She manages to say through slightly numb lips.

"Pleased to meet you, Lana Lang. Go ahead and take a seat over there." She nods, too cold and wet to say anything. She sits down feeling the warmth of the fire wash over her. Sometime later, thunder rumbles overhead and the lights flicker. "Sorry, guess you have to stay until the storm blows over. There's a guest room upstairs second to the right. The first one is being used by another guest."

"Okay," She shivers slightly.

"Each room is slightly different. By the way, yours has a fireplace. Just remember to hit the power button to turn it on, and don't leave it on if you leave the room!"

"Thanks for the warning, and the roof over my head."

"No problem! Just yell if you need me. I'm right across the hall, next to the master bathroom."

"Thanks again. Goodnight, Jackson!"

"Night, Lana." She goes upstairs, and has the same reaction as Eleanora. She eventually calms down enough to sleep. She tucks herself in, pulling the dark purple comforter over her shoulders. She smiles, putting her head down on a purple plush pillow, and promptly falls asleep.

Lana wakes up to the sun shining through her window seat. (Three rooms out of the six have window seats, as they both later learn.) She stretches and rubs the sleep out of her eyes. She takes in the deep purple walls with light lavender stripes crossing over each other, and the deep purple ceiling with a sparkling chandelier.

She looks at the large closet (not a walk-in) painted violet with sparkling curlicues on the doors, and the golden nightstand with a matching alarm clock, and finally notices the purple armoire with golden handles and the matching dresser. Everything is the same size as Eleanora's furniture. A soft knock startles her. She forgot another person lived here.

"Come in!" The lavender door opens, and a maid comes in carrying a tray of food.

"Whoa! Did I turn up on the doorstep of a millionaire?"

"A billionaire, actually Miss Lang. Would you care for some coffee?"

"Oh, sure."

"There's some cream here and a bowl of sugar. Enjoy, miss!" The brunette smiles at her and turns to leave.

"Um, excuse me?"

"Yes, miss?" The small maid turns around.

"What's your name?"

"Grace Ryan."

"Thank you, Grace Ryan. Do you want me to sit somewhere else?"

"Oh, no, Miss Lang. Guests are allowed to eat wherever they choose. Master Jackson insists on it."

"What other guest is here?"

"She left earlier this morning. At 9:30 a.m. It's now 10:00. I'm sorry you missed her. She was so nice to me. She treated me like Master Jackson does, and I felt more comfortable after a while."

"Who was this girl?"

"Master Jackson's baby cousin. I didn't catch her first name. She might have told me in passing…"

"It's alright if you don't remember."

"Thank you, Miss Lang. Ring the bell if you need me." She nods and Grace leaves. She eats her breakfast of eggs, toast, fruit salad, and Belgian waffles. A little later, she decides to leave.

Jackson says goodbye to her, with a warm hug. "Anytime you need a place to stay, Lana…" He gives her his house card. "Just call me, and I promise I'll be there!"

"Thanks so much, Jackson! I had a wonderful time here!" With that, she flags down a taxi and leaves, holding his card in her hand.

She walks home after paying the driver, and sees Eleanora outside on the porch, in a baggy sweater and sweatpants. Her hair is in a messy ponytail and her eyes are puffy and red. Lana's heart goes out to her.

"Hey, Ella. Sleep well?"

She sniffs, "I slept at my cousin's house last night. I explained it to Nell this morning. I might be moving out." Lana joins her on the porch. They sit down side by side on the porch swing.

"So, is Jackson Brown your brother?"

"No, I don't know actually _know_ who my brother is. I've never gotten the chance to meet him."

"Oh. Who is Jackson to you, then?"

"He's my older cousin. Although he's one of my closest friends, too."

"I stayed with him last night. I mean, I slept in one of his guest rooms and he slept in his room," Lana says, flustered.

She can't help but blush at the thought of Jackson. He was so handsome and honest. _Perfect combination_, she thinks, smiling a bit.

"I know what you meant," Eleanora says, bringing Lana back down to Earth.

"I didn't come out here to tell you that."

"Then what brings you here?"

"I came here so I could apologize, on Clark's behalf."

"You shouldn't have to apologize for his behavior. Nice slap by the way. It sounded more like you shot him!"

"That's the first time I've hit Clark. And it felt kinda good!" They laugh for a bit, then lapse into silence.

The birds chirp happily, and the wind rustles through the trees and cornfields.

"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course not Lana. Go ahead!" She thinks for a moment, and then turns to Eleanora.

"Where did you come from?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, you told me you didn't come from Earth! What planet did you come from, and why?" Eleanora looks at the horizon, silent.

**Chapter 12**

"I come from the brother planet of the one that fell out of the sky."

"The meteor shower was pieces of a planet?"

"Yes. At least, I think so. I don't know, but a red sun destroyed the planet. It's like a black hole. Are you following me?"

"No!"

"Good. Then I can tell you this: I was born on a different planet. Someplace called… Oh, what was it? Um… Hold on… Merin!"

"What's Merin like?"

"It's a nature planet, I think. That's why I have powers like I do. I was born this way!"

"What do you mean, 'born this way'?"

"I mean one of my parents (probably my dad) was a Merinian! And the other was a human like you! They must have met somewhere and fallen in love! At least, that's one theory I have."

"So you _are_ from another planet!"

"Yes."

"Weird! And cool, but mostly just weird!"

"A lot to take in, right?"

"Yeah… a lot to take in!"

"Hey, Chloe!" Eleanora smiles and waves at her blonde haired friend.

"Hey, guys, happy Sunday!"

"Is it really a happy one?"

"Don't dis Sundays! They can be happy, too!"

"Fine, Chloe!"

"Ellie, since Lana and I made nicknames for you… I was wondering if you had any for us?"

"Well, for starters… There's Jerk Boy A.K.A. Farm Boy across the street, Alexander is Lex to you and Xander for me (sometimes), Lana is… Hmm," Eleanora looks at her, pensively. "Lan or L."

"I prefer 'L'."

"What if someone nicknames me 'Elle'? As in E-L-L-E?"

"Well, we could say 'Other L'?"

"Maybe. I'll think about it. And Chloe should be 'Chlo'."

"That's what everyone calls me."

"Either that or 'C.S.' Wait, no. That's sounds stupid. Like you're trying to say 'see us'. Never mind. I could call you 'Sullivan'?"

"'Sullivan' sounds weird… How about 'Sully'?" Lana suggests.

"Works for me, how 'bout you… 'Sully'?"

"Eh, good enough for now."

"Great!"

"Shall we go to the Beanery?" Lana asks.

"Sure!" The other two say in unison. And so they go. Two hours later, they arrive at the Beanery.

"I can't believe you got so side tracked by that boy on the highway, Nell!"

"I couldn't help it! He looked sad."

"So does Ella, but she's not complaining."

"Much," Chloe mutters, earning her a poke in her ribs from her Royal friend.

"I think I'm finally getting used to this place!" Eleanora says, grinning.

"Ellie, are you okay?"

"I guess so, why?"

"Is it Clark-" Chloe breaks off as Eleanora bursts into tears at the mention of his name.

"Oh." They sit down together, Eleanora crying into Chloe's tan jacket.

"I'll get her latté," Lana says, almost running to the front of the line. Nell goes with her.

"There, there Ellie! Everything's gonna be okay! You'll see." Chloe soothes her. Someone comes into the Beanery then.

"Eleanora?"

"Go away, Clark! She doesn't want to talk to you." Chloe says to her friend in plaid. "I'll explain later." She adds as an after thought.

"Whatever I did, I-"

"Clark!" Lesley grabs him by the front of his collar, "I'll say this once and only once! If you're the reason she's upset, I promise you I'll make you wish you'd never been born! Get it, Kent?" Lesley snarls, pinning him against the wall.

"Got it," Clark replies, in a strained voice.

"Good. Now, leave!" Lesley releases him.

Clark closes the door behind him, rubbing his neck. Eleanora raises her head, wiping her face off.

"Here's your coffee, Ella!"

"Vanilla latté?"

"With 4 sugars and an extra two shots of vanilla!"

"You're the best, L!"

Lana gives a little laugh, "Well I try!"

"Why don't we all see a movie later?" Chloe suggests, trying to get Eleanora to laugh a little.

"I will if you're going," She answers in a monotone.

"Uh-oh. We've gone from the 'sobbing my eyes out' to the 'whatever you want, mother' way of thinking too fast."

"Drink up, Ella!"

"Mmm-hmm, whatever you want Lana."

"Okay enough!" Lana says, causing Eleanora to spit out her latté. "I've seen another girl with boy blues before and I have the perfect cure."

"Really?" Eleanora wipes her mouth.

"Yeah. Come on!" Lana tells Chloe and Lesley that she'll take good care of her Royal friend. "I'm gonna get Clark back for what he did to you!"

"Well, you _did_ slap him!"

"True… and I think that Lesley scared him off!"

"I don't know what he said, but I'd hate to get on the wrong side of Lesley!"

Lana laughs, as they walk down the avenue to a beauty store called Markus. **(A/N: And I did **_**not**_ **mean for that to be a pun!)**

"So what I did is I took her to Markus, that's here… And Amanda Carlton gave her a beautiful makeover. The next thing I know, her ex is begging for her forgiveness!"

"Whose forgiveness? Amanda's or the girl's?"

"The girl's of course!"

"Do you think it'll work for me?"

"Maybe, but look like you're having the time of your life, too! That's what my friend did."

"Okay… Should I do that before or after the makeover?"

"After, for sure!" They go inside.

The inside looks like a high-end salon. The crystal chandelier looks almost exactly like the one in Jackson's mansion. The chairs are red leather and are as comfortable as overstuffed armchairs, and even the sinks are shiny as though they're brand new.

There are tons of different kinds of shampoos and conditioners, along with all kinds of hair products. The nail polish is arranged in all the colors of the rainbow, and the make up is displayed along the marble walls. Each chair has a mirror in front of it, and the radio is playing in the background.

"Wow! It's beautiful in here!"

"Glad you like it, miss!" A perky blonde girl smiles at Eleanora.

"Thanks, Amanda!" Amanda looks confused for a moment then realizes she's wearing a nametag.

"Right, nametag! Forgot I was wearing one!" She laughs a little. "Anyway, what can I help you two with?"

"Actually, it's just this one," Lana says, nudging Eleanora.

"Hmm, let's see here… I've got it!" Amanda disappears into the back for a while then emerges with a hairbrush, a make up belt, and a handful of make up. "Okay, sit here, and I'll give you the best makeover ever!"

Eleanora sits in one of the red chairs, sinking down a bit. After a few minutes, Amanda works her magic on Eleanora's depressed self.

15 minutes later she says, "Open your eyes!" Lana gasps, and Eleanora feels confused.

"Do I look that bad?"

"No! You- you're-" Lana's eyes are wide.

"Just look in the mirror," Amanda says, smiling. Eleanora takes a deep breath and turns around.

The girl in the reflection has silky light brown hair, beautiful accented eyes, plump pink lips, rosy cheeks, and looks sun kissed.

"So? What do you think?" Amanda asks.

"I love it! Thank you so much!" Eleanora hugs her.

"How much?"

"Oh Lana! You know I always give free makeovers!"

"True, but the makeup isn't free."

"You're right… But it _is_ on sale!"

"Then we'll take everything you put on her!"

"Great! I'll ring you up!" They go to the front of the store.

Eleanora smiles at her reflection, and feels tons happier.

"Hey, you coming?"

"Yeah, Lana!"

They leave, thanking Amanda.

"Are you okay?"

"I feel tons better, Lana. Honest!"

"That's something you-know-who hasn't been to me lately."

"I'm feeling the same way, too."

"Why-" Lana is interrupted by Lex.

"Eleanora?" She turns around, her hair fluttering in the wind. He hugs her tightly.

"Hi there, Lex!"

He releases her, "Are you okay?"

"As okay as a girl who was recently poisoned by a cyanide dart can be."

"Did you get the flowers?"

"Yes I did, and I loved them! It was so sweet of you to think of me. Scarlett would be so proud of you!"

"I'm glad you liked them!"

Eleanora smiles at him.

"It's late, we should go. It was nice to see you again, Lex!" Lana guides her away. Eleanora looks back at him, and gives him her, I'm-sorry-Lex-I-promise-I'll-make-it-up-to-you-later, look. He waves at her.

She turns back again. Lana steers her into the Beanery, 10 minutes later. Nell is there, wearing a red sweater and jeans.

"What's going on here, Nell?" Eleanora asks, confused. A bunch of people are moving the furniture out of the Beanery.

"We're closing The Beanery."

"What?" Lana exclaims.

"Why?" Eleanora inquires.

"Four words: Lex Luthor said so."

Eleanora feels her blood pressure rise in anger, "Why can't we keep it? It means a lot to everyone!"

"Tell _him_ that!" Nell says, bitterly.

"Ugh!" Eleanora exclaims, before turning on her heel and leaving. She runs down the street. Lex stops her with his arm on her waist. "How could you do this, Lex?"

"Do what?"

"You closed The Beanery?"

He lets her go, "Oh. That."

"Lex, _that_ place means a lot to me! And almost everyone in Smallville, including Clark!" He brings her to his Porsche, and they get in. He drives her to his mansion. On the way there, they don't talk for a while.

"Eleanora, I had to close it."

"What for?"

"I wanted to open a new one!"

"Why?"

"This way, it'll be more modern!"

"What was wrong with the other one?"

"This will be better for the town!" He skids around a corner.

"Will the closing of the old movie theater also be 'better for the town'?"

"I think it will."

"Lex, that place means everything to Lana! It's where her parents first met! And it's the last thing she has from them!"

"And where you first saw a movie?"

"What-"

Lex stops the car, turns it off, opens his door and then Eleanora's. He pulls her out of her seat and slams the door shut. He turns around, his face inches from hers. "You lied to me and everyone you call 'friend'!"

"I don't-"

He grabs her wrist and yanks her inside the mansion. He doesn't let go until they reach the fireplace. Then he turns around, letting her wrist go. She massages it, as his eyes flash.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! Sorry about the last chapter… I couldn't update any new ones, so I had to combine them. You may see that from time to time. And about the updating thing, I've been pretty busy with other things. But in any case, here's chapter 13! Read and Review please! :D**

**Chapter 13**

"You're Scarlett Luthor! Or should I say, Princess Rosella Martin of Merin?"

Her heart races, "What?"

"_Don't_ play the 'I'm innocent' card with me! You're only _half_ human. I did a little research on your background story, and found _this_!" He pulls down a projector screen and rolls a clip. It's a video of her, Chloe, and Lesley going into the abandoned movie theater.

"Scarlett goes in, but look!" He fast forwards to near the end and plays it.

"See? Eleanora comes out, and there's no sign of Scarlett!" He puts the screen back up and stops the clip. "There are two answers to this puzzle. A: Scarlett is still in that dump, or B: You _are_ Scarlett. I've been to that place, and found no trace of Scarlett. So that brings me to the conclusion that you're Scarlett! Isn't that right, _Princess_?"

She's silent for a bit.

"Yes, Lex. You're right. But I never meant to tell you this way." She expects him to tell her to leave and never come back, but she hears a soft chuckle. She looks up, confused.

"It's all right… Eleanora. It's time you learned the truth, without the sugarcoating on it."

She sits down by the fire, listening. He joins her.

"Your mother was the one that was human, and your father was from Merin. He came to Earth 15 years before the meteor shower. He met and fell in love with your mother in Ireland. He didn't know she was the Queen of Ireland. He took her to Merin, five years later. The Merinians loved her and worshipped her. One particular Merinian didn't like her at all, believing that the Merinian race should remain pure." Lex stops, taking a sip of water from his glass.

"Then what happened?"

"Well, they spent two weeks on Merin. Then they returned to Earth, and got married in Ireland four years later. It was hard not to like your father. So, 11 years later they had you. Then the Merinian that so hated your mother, came to Earth and threatened to exterminate you." Lex sets his empty glass down on the rug.

"That's when your parents called my father and he said he would help. He brought our plane over to your castle and you were boarded onto the plane, one trunk held a few of your belongings. You fainted and came to a few days later. Dad told us we could fly in a helicopter to Smallville. You were 4 years old. You and I walked through the cornfields together, but we got separated. You remember this, don't you?" Eleanora nods.

"What you don't know is that Lesley found you, but you'd fallen into a crater. Dad found something, and told Lesley to take you and me back home. You remember that Kryptonian, Davis Bloom, right?"

"Oh yeah, I ran into him a couple of months ago. He seemed to be doing pretty well."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He saved Clark's life."

"_Really_?"

"Mmm-hmm! I was glad he was there otherwise you might not be alive!"

"Who-"

"Small town," she replies, smiling. Lex nods. "Can you promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Promise me you'll keep this a secret. And that you won't keep me as a lab rat in Luthorcorp."

"I promise your secret's safe with me. I won't go behind your back anymore, either. And I _definitely_ will not run experiments on you, unless you ask first. I'll make sure my employees are banished to the ends of the earth if any one of them breaks that rule."

"Maybe just the one that broke the rule."

"If you say so, Eleanora." She hugs Lex, relieved. He returns her hug. The front door opens, and then closes behind her. Lex opens his eyes and sees Clark standing in the doorway.

"Clark!" He says, surprised. He lets go of Eleanora. They stand awkwardly still for a moment. The grandfather's clock chimes, breaking the silence. It chimes 6:00 p.m.

"Oh, God! I'm late for dinner. Nell's gonna kill me when I get home. Thanks for the ride, Lex, but I can walk home."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. See ya later." She goes out of the double doors without a glance at Clark.

"Ouch! That must hurt, Clark! What happened between you two?"

"It's a long story."

"Hey, I've got time."

Eleanora shakes her head in disbelief and closes the door behind her. She goes out of the mansion and super speeds to Lana's. She skids to a stop before she opens the door.

"About time you showed up, Ella! We were beginning so worried about you." Nell says, closing the door behind me.

"You see, Lana? She's fine!" Lesley says soothingly, embracing her.

"Are you sure it's her?"

"Of course it's me! Who'd you expect? The police?" Eleanora jokes, then adds: "Sorry, Les!"

"It's alright."

She walks forward seeing tear tracks down everyone's faces.

"Hey. I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was. I was sorta kidnapped by Lex." The three look at her. Lana chokes on her tea, Lesley drops his mug of coffee, and Nell's face goes pale.

"What? Do I have a giant zit on my forehead?"

"Y-your h-hair," Lana manages, still coughing. Eleanora grabs a mirror.

"What the hell?" She almost drops it in surprise. She has bluish highlights.

"Your highlights just turned blue. They were red after I told you the reason why The Beanery is closing."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Eleanora says quickly. "Are you saying that I have mood changing highlights?"

"It would seem so, yes." Nell answers.

"Actually she does for sure. She was affected by the meteor shower," Lana covers for Eleanora.

"All right then, let's eat!" Nell says, ushering them into the kitchen.

After dinner, Eleanora goes out to the front porch. She has a new nightgown on (red with sparkly thin blue stripes) and her navy blue robe on over her shoulders. She looks up at the stars, and notices a glowing light near the Kents barn.

Curious, she walks over to it. She picks up the octagonal silver object. Some weird letters are around the outside. It stopped glowing when she touched it, but she didn't notice. She looks up at the barn loft, seeing Clark looking through his telescope at Lana's house. She rolls her eyes, pockets the object, and heads back to Lana's.

**Seeing as how I haven't gotten any more reviews *sad face*, I'll just keep posting and hoping. Enjoy this chapter and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE review! If you do, the next chapter will be posted! Promise! BTW, thanks to Renesmee17 for adding this story to your favorites! You ROCK! ^^**

**Chapter 14**

Eleanora wakes up the next morning, in a good mood. Such a good mood that she decides to pay Clark a visit. The sun shines through her window, glancing off of a brown paper package. Curious, she picks it up and opens it. Inside is a brand new cell phone with a note.

The note reads: "Your Highness. I guess this is as good of a time as any to give you this. It isn't a cell phone; well it is but not a normal one exactly. What I mean is… It has a tracking device in it and it also has a couple other gadgets too. Hope you like it and use it well. Sincerely, Lesley."

Eleanora smiles and turns the phone on. It greets her with a dull "ding!" and the screen lights up.

"Dramatic," she says dryly.

"Glad you like it," Lesley smiles at her. She bear hugs him.

"Ow!"

"What happened?" She releases him quickly. He grimaces, massaging his arm. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, I hurt myself. Top secret thing."

She nodded, feeling better.

"So, breakfast in an hour!"

"Got it, Les!" She smiles at him. He returns her smile and leaves. As soon as she hears him talking to Nell, she looks at her bed. She debates on whether or not to make it. She ends up doing it anyway. She smiles to herself, placing her hands on her hips.

Grabbing her robe, she opens her window and slips out. She speeds over to Clark's and skids to a stop near his driveway. She walks up to the front door of the house, and stops. Her nose tingles. She sneezes into her elbow. The top of the front door flies into the house, banging against the opposite wall.

She hears Mr. and Mrs. Kent exclaim. There's quite a bit of confused talking, and then Clark comes to the broken door.

"Mom, I don't know what hap- Oh." He looks at Eleanora.

"Sorry! I sneezed!" She shrugs, guiltily.

"Your sneeze broke our front door and part of the wall?" He asks, half amused.

"Well… Yeah." He is silent for a while. Eleanora looks at her slippers.

"Do you want- would you like- Ugh! This is so hard to say! Uhh…"

She looks at him, and as if she's saying "go on", he blurts out: "Would you stay with me?"

"What?" She asks, disoriented.

"I mean… us," he adds quickly.

"Oh. Umm, I'd-"

"Clark, I was just wondering if- Eleanora?" Chloe nearly makes her Royal friend get a heart attack.

Eleanora turns around, "Hey Chloe!"

"Hey! How are you?"

"Ah, fine. Can't complain. You?"

"Dying to get a juicy story for The Torch!"

"Oh, is it that bad?" Eleanora looks sympathetically at the blonde.

"Yeah. Business isn't booming!" Chloe looks sadly at the ground.

"That's a shame! Any new stories for the 'Wall of Weird'?"

"I came up dryer than the Sahara Desert!" Chloe pouts at her.

"Aww! I'm sorry for your troubles."

"Ah, it's all right."

"Hey how's Pete doing, by the way?" Eleanora asks, curiously.

"Well, he's anxious to meet you in person!" Chloe grins.

"I'll bet he is!" Eleanora laughs.

"Are you two going to continue talking like I'm not here?" Clark says, irritated.

"Sorry! I got distracted!"

He nods his head.

"I don't think you're the only one," Chloe says, looking at him.

Eleanora now notices his blue and white plaid shirt is on backwards and he's still wearing his pajama pants with one slipper on his right foot and a dress shoe on his left. Both the slipper and the shoe are for the left foot.

"What's wrong?" She asks, concerned and a bit amused.

"Nothing! Just tired!" Clark declares.

"Looks like your closet threw up on you, Clark," Chloe remarks, amused.

"Well we can't all dress like you, Chloe!"

She gives him her megawatt smile.

"You do look amazing everyday!" Eleanora admits.

"Thank you! But, you look great too!" Chloe insists.

"I'm in my robe and I have no make up on!" The other laughs.

"You still look beautiful, Eleanora!" Clark says, blushing.

"Thanks, Farm boy!" She gives him her signature smile. A trace of suspicion crosses his eyes very briefly.

"Well, I just dropped by to say hi! I gotta go! See you at school, Clark!"

"Bye Chloe!" Eleanora and Clark say together. She smiles at them as she runs off, her tan coat fluttering. Her jeans are dusted in snow and her tennis shoes kick up flurries of snow.

"Clark, are you going to stand there all day? You'll be late for school! It's the second to last week before break!" Mr. Kent calls out to him.

"Yes!" Eleanora says, her mind made up.

"What?" Clark blinks at her, vaguely.

"Yes I will stay with you. I mean, with you and your parents." She bites her lip.

"But…?" He asks, reading her expression.

"But… I can't stay now. I'm being homeschooled by Lesley. He says I can go to regular school next September. Maybe in the summer I can move in?" She looks at him, hopefully.

"Sure!" He smiles at her. She sighs, relieved.

"I'm really sorry, Clark."

"No, don't worry about it! I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Definitely!" She smiles at him again before dashing away, leaving a flurry of snow in her wake. Later that day, the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it, Lesley!" Nell calls, already on her way to the door.

"Okay!" He gives Eleanora another pencil to replace the broken one.

She continues writing her essay about the life of a plant. They're sitting in the kitchen, and the oak chair where Eleanora's sitting is getting more uncomfortable by the second.

"Ella! There's a package for you," Nell says as she comes back in.

"Oh?" Eleanora takes the package.

"There's no return address." Lesley remarks.

"Weird," she answers. She opens it, and smiles. Only Lex would, she thinks, fondly.

"What is it?" Nell and Lesley ask. Eleanora takes it out, showing the others. The object is a square chestnut brown music box. On the top is a fist sized stained glass window of white roses and pink irises.

The box is the size of two hands put together. (A/N: I'm talking about the average teenage girl's hands.) She opens the lid. A sweet, sorrowful, and tender melody plays that makes everyone in the room want to cry and laugh at the same time.

"Who gave that to you?" Nell asks, her voice shaking.

"I-I don't know," Eleanora lies.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey all! Okay. So I couldn't hold back anymore, and I'm still sad about not getting any new reviews. Here's the next chapter, just because! Thanks to all that have bothered to read this! R&R**

**Chapter 15**

"Whoever gave that to you must have had to pay a fortune," Lesley says, looking at Eleanora. She closes the lid gently, and turns it over. "It's engraved!" She whispers. "What's it say?" Nell asks, wiping away her tears. " 'Ella, whenever you open this box and hear your song, I hope you think of me. With love, A.L.' "

" 'A.L.' Who's that?" Lesley asks. "Alexander Luthor," Eleanora replies, turning the box back over. "He put his real initials? You must mean a lot to him." Lesley smiles at her. She doesn't say anything, but smiles. "Well. Lunch, anyone?" Nell asks. The other two nod.

After lunch, Eleanora watches the grandfather clock on the wall while lying on the couch. Lesley went on an errand with Nell, though he didn't go quietly. Eleanora takes her eyes off of the clock and continues flipping through the channels. "Re-run, commercial, commercial, re-run, re-run- Oh my gosh!" She stops on the news channel and turns the volume up. A brunette woman in a red coat and blue jeans is talking about a recent power failure.

"… And here you can see where a mysterious lightning bolt hit the Daily Planet, causing the whole building to lose power. It's puzzling to our meteorologists because only one bolt came from the very short storm. Some people are saying aliens came along with it. However, others disagree. Sally, an eight-year-old girl was hit by the bolt's aftershocks in Smallville. She is in critical condition at the city's medical center. Her family prays that whatever happened last night, doesn't happen again. Back to you, Kathryn."

Eleanora turns the T.V. off. "Oh, Clark! I hope you didn't do that," she says to herself. The school bus screeches to a stop at the end of the driveway. Eleanora's nose tingles again. She grabs a tissue and sneezes into it, as Lana opens the door. The papers on the coffee table fly into the air, along with all the pillows on the couch. Luckily, Lana has her back turned.

Before she turns around, Eleanora grabs the papers and pillows, puts them back where they were, saves her music box from falling off the kitchen table, and soars back onto the couch with an open book in her hands. Lana's hair flutters. "Bless you," she says, closing the door. "Thanks."

Lana turns around. "Where are Lesley and Nell?" She looks at the book in Eleanora's hands. "They went on an errand," she says, casually. "Oh. By the way, Clark wants to see you." "Did he give a reason why?" Eleanora closes her book and sets it aside. "No. He just said it was extremely important." Lana sits down at the kitchen table.

"I'd better go see what he wants. Tell Nell and Lesley where I went, if I don't return before they come home." Eleanora grabs her jacket. "Okay. Be safe!" Lana notices the music box. "Who's this from?" She asks. "Oh. Lex Luthor gave it to me. I don't know why." She opens the door, closes it, and walks to Clark's house.

"Hello?" She calls through the half-door. No one answers. She x-rays the house and her eyes widen. "Oh my gosh!" She rips off the rest of the door, speeds over to Clark, and catches him before he hits the floor. "Clark? Clark! Can you hear me?" There's blood on his clothes.

"Don't die on me! Don't you _dare_!" She takes him in her arms, and super-speeds to the bridge she'd cried under. She leans against the railing, stroking his hair. Thunder rumbles above them. She wonders why she'd felt weak when she was at Jackson's. She shrugs and figures it was because the rain soaked her.

"Clark, please say something to let me know you're alive," Eleanora says, a tear hitting his face. "California." He whispers. She's surprised. "You want to go there?" She asks, confused. He barely nods. "Okay?" She holds him close and arrives in San Francisco.

"Excuse me, sir. Can you help me find the closest hospital?" She asks a hooded man. The man points just behind her. "Thank you." She goes inside. "May I help you, miss?" A familiar, blonde, female nurse asks. "Yes. My friend needs help. I think he's dying."

"All right, we'll take him. But fill out the forms while you're waiting." "Actually, ma'am, I'd prefer to stay with him," Eleanora insists. "Suit yourself. Those forms still have to be filled out, though." The nurse helps Eleanora with Clark. "Now, who is he?" She asks, once we're in a room. "Clark Kent." Eleanora says, holding his hand.

"Are you related to him?" She takes out a clipboard. "No. I'm his friend." She replies, slightly puzzled. "Hmm… So you _don__'__t_ have his medical insurance card." The nurse makes a note. "Miss… What was your name?" "Eleanora Brown." "Miss Brown, I'm sorry, but without insurance you're gonna have to pay the full price." "That's fine! I just want to make sure he's all right."

"Well, he's certainly lucky to have a friend like you. I'll be right back. Don't move him. That IV there is the one thing that's keeping his heart from giving out." The nurse leaves, closing the door behind her. "Oh, Clark! This is all my fault. I'm so sorry." Another tear hits his hand.

The door opens. "Uh, Miss Brown? There's a phone call for you. From a Martha Kent." The nurse shows her where the phone is. "Mrs. Kent?" She asks, timidly into the receiver. "Where's Clark? Is he with you?" "Mrs. Kent, calm down. Clark is with me. He's safe and alive, I promise." Eleanora sighs.

"But why am I calling the hospital in San Francisco for my supposedly 'safe and alive' son?" She sounds worried and frustrated. "Look, he wanted to come here. I knew he needed help so I did what I could." "Have you found out his secret?" She asks, without hesitation. Eleanora pauses, "Yes. I have." A nurse walks by. "I won't tell a soul, Mrs. Kent," she whispers into the phone. "I believe you, but when will he be healthy again?" She says, worried. "I honestly don't know. I hope by tomorrow." Eleanora bites her lip. "Will you switch powers?"

"If he wants to, yes. I have to go, Mrs. Kent. I'll explain more when I see you. Bye!" Eleanora hangs up the phone. "About time, Miss Brown. Your friend is awake and has been asking about you for the past 10 minutes. He's about to get up to look for you." The nurse smiles at Eleanora's expression.

"Sorry, but you look familiar. What's your name?" Eleanora asks the blonde nurse. "Amanda. Amanda Carlton." "Oh my gosh! You're my sister!" She says. "I _thought_ you looked familiar!" They embrace. "Oh! I forgot about Clark!" They run into his room. "Hey, Farmboy!" Eleanora says, feeling guilty.

"There you are!" He hugs her, and she's glad he doesn't have super strength. "Okay, ow!" She barely punches him in the arm. "All right, all right! You can go now, Mr. Kent. You as well, Miss Brown." Amanda shows them the way out.

They check into the closest hotel. "Hello, there! Is it just for the night?" The brunette manager asks, after Eleanora pays. "No. It's for 2 weeks," Clark says before she can say anything. "The only room that's available is the honeymoon suite. Is that all right?" "Yes!" Clark and Eleanora say together. "Just sign in, then."

After they sign in (as Sarah Smith and Lance Dare) they take the elevator up to their floor. "So, _Lance_, as soon as you booked us into this hotel for 2 weeks, what do you propose we do?" Eleanora asks, a bit irritated. "Well, _Sarah_, I just want to get to know you better." The elevator dings.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 16**

They walk out of the elevator and find their room. Eleanora hears her phone beep. She takes it out and glances at it. "Did you get a text?" Clark asks, opening the door for her. "No… It says: GPS lock. Oh my gosh, I'm a terrible person!" She hits her forehead. "Why do you say that?" He closes the door.

"Because I forgot that Lesley put a GPS system on my cell, so that he'll know where I am. It's his way of protecting me." She sits on the bed, putting her head in her hands. "When do you think he'll come for you?" Clark asks, sitting next to her.

"The earliest time would be in two or three days. Depending on the airplane flight," she sighs. "What would happen if he doesn't find you?" Clark surprises Eleanora by this. She looks at him, "What do you mean?" "If he shows up here, and can't find you, what will happen?"

"I don't know. He always finds me, one way or another." She bites her lip. They're silent for a while, both deep in their thoughts. "Clark?" She asks, breaking the silence. "Yeah?" He answers. "When your mother called, she asked when we would switch powers."

Clark doesn't say anything. "I told her that we would switch when you're ready." Eleanora waits for a response. "Did you really say that?" He asks, semi-surprised. "I did," she replies, looking at her feet. "Wow. Uh, thank you." He sounds pleased. She looks at him again, surprised. He smiles at her. She returns his smile.

The days go by, and they successfully avoid Lesley in each place they go. Clark checks them out of the hotel, and they catch the next plane back to Smallville. "Can you believe three weeks have gone by?" Eleanora asks, sitting back in her seat. "I know. Plus, all those hotels!" Clark smiles at her. "Yeah. I think about 8 different countries are furious at us!"

A loud clap of thunder rocks the plane. "Sorry about that folks, looks like we'll be experiencing some turbulence from this storm." The voice of the pilot says, static crackling. Another clap of thunder rocks the plane. The contents of the cabinets rattle.

A bright flash of lightning almost hits the left wing of the plane. Eleanora leans over to him. "Clark, do you have my purse?" She whispers in his ear. "Yes, why?" He whispers back. "Get the box out and open it. You'll see my bracelet inside. Hold the bracelet in your hand."

"Which hand?" He asks. She holds his left hand. In a few moments, she feels a sharp pain take over her. She fights it, forcing herself to hold his hand. Lightning strikes the plane. The bolt goes through both of them and Eleanora feels the bracelet burn the palm of her hand. The last thing she sees is a bright flash of green light, and the last thing she does is lean over and kiss Clark. A loud explosion occurs and then silence.

Sometime later, she comes to. The rain is coming down in sheets. Her previously light green shirt is now covered in mud and burn marks. Her jeans are in the same shape. She doesn't even want to know what the rest of her looks like. As she coughs out smoke from her lungs, she looks around for other survivors. She sees Clark under a still burning wing from the plane.

"Clark!" She drags him out from beneath the wing, and kneels down beside him. He is in relatively the same shape as she is, except he's not moving or breathing "Clark?" A green glow catches her eye. She takes her bracelet, searching for the box. When she finds it, she throws the bracelet inside and shuts the lid. She puts her head on his chest.

She can hear an almost non-existent heartbeat. "Please don't leave me here!" She whispers to him, tears running down her face. Her tears mingle with the rain, as she says through her tears: "I love you."

The rain continues to pour down on both of them. Then Clark's heartbeat rises. Eleanora starts, sitting up fast. He coughs, his eyelids snapping open. He stands up, with a little help from her. The thunderstorm slowly clears away.

"I had the strangest dream!" He says to her. "I'd love to hear about it, if you're willing to share." She smiles at him. "Well we were on a plane, talking. I don't remember what we said to each other, but all of a sudden a storm came. A bolt of lightning hit the plane, causing it to catch fire. Just after that, you sort of… kissed me. Then there was this flash of green light followed by an explosion. That's all I remember." He stands next to the remains of the plane.

"Uh, Clark? Hate to break it to you, but that wasn't a dream." Eleanora points at the wreckage. Clark looks around. "Did anyone survive?" He asks calmly, though his cheeks are pink. "I think we're the only survivors." She says, biting her lip to keep from crying again. He turns back to her. "Eleanora? Are you all right?" He walks to her, concerned.

A tear runs down her face. _Traitor!_ She thinks to it. "To be honest, Clark, no. You see…" She tries to control her voice. "Before I ran away with you… Lana told me that you wanted to talk. So, I went to your house and found that someone had broken in." Eleanora takes a shaky deep breath, before continuing.

"You were on the floor, almost unconscious. I was afraid you were dead. I didn't know what to do except take you somewhere you could get help. That's why we were in San Francisco." She looks up from her hands. Clark stops pacing, a troubled look on his face. "What is it, Clark?" She asks, wiping away her tears.

"It's just that… I remember coming home and finding the window broken. I guess my instinct kicked in and I couldn't handle the person. Not without my powers." He starts walking away very quickly. "Wait!" Eleanora runs to catch up with him. "The thing is, Eleanora, I never told Lana I wanted to talk to you. I missed the bus, and had to walk home. Actually, now that I think about it, I _floated_ home." He stops walking abruptly.

Eleanora crashes into him. "So you figured that out?" She asks, bouncing off of him. "Yeah. It was nice, while it lasted." He turns around. She massages her shoulder. "You okay?" He asks. "Never better!" She gives him her signature smile.

"Your smile." He says, pensively. "What about it?" She asks, as it fades away. "You remind me of… But that's impossible, since she's dead. Still…" He's talking mostly to himself. "What are you trying to say, Farmboy?" Eleanora asks, dreading the answer. "When you smile, it makes you look like Scarlett Luthor!"

She bites her lip again, not denying anything. "You _aren't_ Scarlett, are you?" He says, looking into her eyes.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 17**

Before Eleanora can answer, a familiar noise reaches her ears. She and Clark look up at the Luthor's helicopter. The wind from the helicopter whips Eleanora's hair into Clark's face. The noise and wind die down. Lex emerges and runs to both of them.

"Eleanora! Clark!" He stops in front of them. "Lex! What are you doing here?" She asks, a feeling of trepidation coming over her. "I was just about to ask you the same question." Lesley says, appearing next to Lex. Eleanora cringes, guilt written all over her face.

"You, young lady, are in an _infinite_ amount of trouble!" Lesley says, once he and Eleanora are back inside Lana's house. "Lesley, I-" She begins, trying to soothe him. "Three weeks! _Three_ weeks, I was worried sick about you!" He sits down, his head in his hands.

"Les-" She puts her hand on his shoulder. "Do you _know_ what the consequences for failing to protect you are?" He looks at her, hurt in his eyes. She says nothing. "I'll tell you. First off is flying back to Ireland to tell your father, the King, that you were gone. After that is telling him, seeing your mother faint from shock, and being thrown in the dungeon. Third is starvation. Finally, if one survives, is banishment from this planet. In other words: death." Lesley blinks away tears.

Again, Eleanora says nothing. Silent tears stream down her face. "You know what the worst part was? It wasn't the fear in my heart that you'd died, nor was it the fact that you ran away with some farm boy you barely know… It was the amount of worry the whole town went through. It was the hours I spent comforting the Kents, telling them their son was safe. It was the days I wasted searching the world to find even the_slightest_ trace of you. It was the cold, hard fact that you betrayed my trust. And that's something I will _never_ forget." He buries his head in his hands again.

Eleanora still says nothing. Now she wishes she can somehow go back in time to tell herself not to test Lesley. She takes her hand from his shoulder. "You know what else? You were on the 'Missing Person's' board two days after you'd vanished. Clark was there too. That's when my fears were confirmed." Lesley takes a shaky breath. "Lesley, I'm sorry-" Eleanora says, her voice shaking. "Don't. Just don't. Please."

She looks at the back of his head and goes outside. Clark is out there as well. She wipes her tears. Neither of them says anything. He holds his arms out to her, and she accepts. They stand there, arms wrapped around each other. They stay like that until Nell's car pulls into the driveway.

Eleanora pulls back slightly, so that her head is a foot or so away from Clark's. She gives him a small smile and a light kiss, before he leaves. Halfway across the cornfield, he looks back at her and waves. She returns his wave.

After Nell scolds Eleanora for scaring her half to death, she sends her to her room without dinner. Eleanora lies on her side in her bed, staring out of her window. A gentle knock on her door startles her. "It's open!" She whispers, sitting up.

Lana opens the door, wearing her pink bathrobe and holding a lit candle. She closes the door behind her. "Come to tell me how wrong I was to run away with Clark?" Eleanora asks, keeping her voice down. Lana sets the candle down on her nightstand. "Actually, no. Although I _was_ worried about you." She sits next to Eleanora. "I just thought you might need a friend here tonight."

Eleanora smiles, "Thanks, Lana. I'll take the floor." "No, _I__'__ll_ take the floor. I insist!" Lana stands up. "Fine. You win, this time. Here's an extra blanket and pillow." Eleanora gives her a blue blanket, and tosses her a pillow. "Thanks! Good night, Ella!" Lana says, wrapping herself up in the blanket. "Good night, Lana!" Eleanora says, before blowing out the candle.

In the morning, Lana somehow convinces Lesley and Nell to let Eleanora out of the house. They go to the Talon, where they run into Chloe. "Oh my gosh! You're back!" She hugs Eleanora. "What the hell happened to you?" She asks, releasing her. "Nothing… Well, the plane ride back was shorter than expected."

"What do you mean?" Lana and Chloe ask. "It kind of… Exploded." Eleanora says, before ordering a latte. Clark walks through the door. "WHAT?" The girls exclaim, loud enough for him to notice them. "But we somehow managed to survive." She says, quickly. Chloe turns around.

"Clark!" She says, grabbing his arm before he can finish walking out of the door. Eleanora can't hear what they're saying, but she notices a familiar person walk into the Talon. Lana nudges her. "What?" She asks, nearly spilling her vanilla latte. "Has Pete met the new you yet?" Lana asks, just loud enough for Eleanora to hear.

"Not that I can recall. Why?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. Lana looks over her shoulder. "No reason. I'm gonna go fill up my coffee cup. I'll talk to you later." She leaves, a smile on her face. "Lana!" Eleanora calls to her, but she doesn't listen. Sighing, Eleanora sits down and sips her latte.

The door opens and Pete walks over to her. "Uh, is this seat taken?" He asks, nervously. She shakes her head in response. He sits across from her, "So, are you new here?" She sets her cup down on the table, "No. I've been here for 4 months, and a few weeks. How about you?" "I've been here since I was born. Give or take a few months." He smiles.

She returns his smile. "What's your name?" He asks her. "Eleanora. Eleanora Brown. Who are you?" She puts a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Pete Ross." He holds out his hand. Eleanora looks at it, then takes it. "So _you__'__re_ the famous Eleanora Chloe and Clark have been talking about?" He says, withdrawing his hand.

"In the flesh," she returns, smiling. "It's great to finally meet you." He grins. Lana returns with Clark and Chloe. "Pete! I see you've met my girlfriend." Clark says, sitting next to Eleanora. "Your _what_?" Pete asks, doing a double take. "Eleanora's my girlfriend. Well, as of a few weeks, that is." Clark puts his arm around her.

Pete looks a bit put out. Eleanora is about to say something, but is interrupted by the arrival of Lex Luthor. "Oh. I didn't realize I was intruding." He says, looking surprised.

"Lex, have you met Eleanora?" Clark asks. "I've had the pleasure a few weeks ago." He smiles at her. "Good to see you again," she waves at him. "Well, I can see that the Talon is pretty much packed today. I just dropped by to check. I'll see you all later."

"Bye Lex!" They all chime at different times. "Wow. He looks different than I remember. Maybe it was all that fresh air." Eleanora remarks. "Well, I've gotta go fix the front door." Clark says, getting up. "You might want to get a new one." She looks at him, a playful look in her eyes. He laughs lightly and gives her a quick kiss.

"You sure you don't need help?" She asks, seriously. "I'll be fine. See you guys later." He waves goodbye before taking off. A few moments later, Whitney practically throws the door off its hinges. Everyone stares at him. "Hey there, psycho! What's going on?" Chloe asks, her eyebrows raised.

"You guys will never believe this!" He says, a huge smile on his face. "Believe what?" Eleanora asks, as Whitney takes Clark's vacant seat. "I just heard from my coach that I'm getting a football scholarship!" He says with great emotion. "That's great news!" She says, smiling. "Congratulations!" Chloe and Pete chorus together.

"I'm so proud of you!" Lana hugs him. "When do you get the letter?" Eleanora asks, once everyone quiets down. "As soon as I finish high school." He's still smiling. "That really _is_ great news, Whitney!" Eleanora says. "I know! I just had to tell you. Well, I'll see you later." He leaves, and Lana goes with him.

Eleanora blinks in astonishment, "Wow. I've never seen Whitney and Lana so happy." "Not even when they were at the dance." Pete says. "What dance?" Eleanora asks, confused. Chloe elbows him in the side. "Ow! Never mind." He mumbles, grimacing.

"Uh, so. We should go. It's getting late." Chloe says, flustered. "Oh, okay! It was nice to meet you Pete." Eleanora says, waving to him. "Nice to meet you too." He returns her wave and leaves with Chloe. Eleanora finishes her latte, and gets up to grab her jacket.

Just a few people are left: one red haired girl, two waitresses, and an old man reading a newspaper. The old man folds his paper up and leaves. The two waitresses clear the tables and go into the back. The red haired girl is staring daggers at Eleanora. Suddenly, she gets up and walks over to Eleanora.

"Who are you?" The girl asks, in an accusing tone. "Eleanora Brown. Who are you?" Eleanora is taken aback by the girl's assertiveness. "Jane Rowe. Not that you need to know." She folds her arms, still glaring at her. "Have I done something to offend you? Because if I did, I'm-"

"You've got a lot of nerve dating Clark Kent!" Jane interrupts, uncrossing her arms. "Excuse me?" Eleanora says, totally confused. "Don't you know he's mine? He's always been _mine_!" She states, static crackling in the air. "I'm sorry, but-" Eleanora is cut off by Jane holding up her pale arm and closing her hand around her neck.

"You can't date Clark Kent anymore!" Her grip is surprisingly strong. Eleanora finds it hard to breathe. " 'Kay?" She fake smiles at her. Eleanora loses consciousness, as she hits the floor.

When she comes to, she looks around her. She's freezing and surrounded by frozen fruit, vegetables, yogurt, and ice. "What the hell?" She runs to the door. It's locked. "This can _not_ be happening!" She says, pounding on the door. "Help! Is anyone there? I could _really_ use a hero right now!" She continues to shout and bang on the door until she loses feeling in her fingers. Her breath makes clouds of white come out and fog up the small window above the door.

She sinks to the floor. "Well, this is it! I'm gonna die here. All alone in a yogurt shop walk-in freezer. Hell of a way to go." She hugs her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. She feels the warmth slowly exiting her body. "Nobody knows where I am. _I_ don't even know where I am. Oh, Clark! If you can hear me, please come quickly!"


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey all! Thanks for your patience! Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it, and sorry about the wait, again.**

**Chapter 18**

Eleanora faintly hears someone yelling her name. She tries to speak, but her lips are too numb from the cold. "The freezer. Chloe! Clark! She's over here!" Lesley shouts. Eleanora's eyelids flutter closed, but she can still hear. The door breaks open, and a warm rush of air greets her half frozen body.

"Eleanora!" Clark says, holding her bridal style in his arms. She can barely feel it. "Oh my God! Is she dead?" Chloe asks. "No. She's still alive, but not very much." Clark says, half relieved. "Let's get her out of here." Lesley says, his footsteps beginning to recede.

The feeling slowly begins to return to Eleanora's fingertips. "Set her down here and keep her warm, Clark." Lesley says. Eleanora knows both will be looking at her and Lesley is pacing. "Her skin is blue!" Chloe says, urgently. "Don't put her _there_, Lesley!" Clark is saying.

"Here?" Lesley sounds exasperated. "No, there!" Clark sounds positive. "Are you absolutely sure?" Lesley asks, sounding more worried about Eleanora than anything else. "Just do it, and hurry!" Clark responds. A door slams shut. "C'mon, Nora! Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone." Clark is saying, just to Eleanora.

"Please wake up," he whispers. She regains feeling in her fingers, and realizes that someone is holding her hand. The person's grip tightens slightly. Wanting the person to know she's alive, Eleanora moves her fingers. "She moved, Lesley!" Eleanora hears Clark say, both relieved and surprised.

"Did she?" Lesley replies. "I felt her move her fingers… Her eyelids just fluttered. She's alive!" Clark exclaims. Eleanora opens her eyes, squinting slightly in the bright light of the yogurt shop. Clark embraces her, gently. She sits up and awkwardly returns his hug.

"Thank God! We thought-" Chloe begins, but Eleanora cuts her off. "I was dead?" She finishes, through numb lips. "Yeah!" The other three chorus. "Wouldn't be a first." She smiles at them. "What happened?" Lesley asks, intrigued.

Before Eleanora can answer, Chloe speaks up. "Maybe a yogurt shop isn't the best place to have this conversation?" She states. "Should we go to Clark's place?" Lesley suggests. "It'll be warmer there," Eleanora mutters. Chloe helps her up. Something occurs to Eleanora. "Hey, Chlo?" "Yeah?" She answers. "Didn't you say your cousin would be visiting us?"

"As soon as she finishes her senior year in high school, yeah. Why do you ask?" Chloe looks at Eleanora. "I've been wanting to meet her." She says, her lips de-numbing. "What about _your_ cousin, Jack?" Chloe inquires. "He's already here, but-" Eleanora begins. "He just moved in?" Chloe asks. "Yeah. He lives in a coffee shop replica."

"Oh! What does he look like?" Chloe puts Eleanora's arm around her shoulder, to better support her. With her free hand, Eleanora takes out a photo of him and shows it to her. Chloe nearly drops her. "That's your cousin?" She says, shocked. "Yes, it's Jack Brown." Eleanora says, nudging Chloe. "He's cute!"

"I don't have any recent pictures of him, though." Eleanora says, ignoring Chloe's comment. "You two look so happy!" Chloe sighs. Clark looks over Eleanora's shoulder. "Why was your hair so dark?" He asks. "I dyed it that summer. This picture was taken 2 years ago." Eleanora says, hoping Clark wouldn't see the resemblance of her smile.

"You look like Scarlett Luthor!" He remarks. _Damn it!_ She thinks, bitterly. "Let's get you defrosted, Ellie." Chloe says, guiding her through the door. A black van pulls up on the curb, and 2 men in suits come out. Both are wearing ski masks. Lesley instinctively lunges forward, taking out the first man.

Since Eleanora has no feeling in her legs she can't do anything to help him. The second man dodges Lesley and wrestles Eleanora away from Chloe. He holds a gun to her head, holding her with the other arm. "No one move, or she's dead!" The man says in a gravelly voice. Fear hits Eleanora like a sucker punch to her stomach.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees glowing green bullets loaded into the iron gun. She instantly knows that Clark can't save her. Chloe takes a step forward, but a strange figure literally glides over to her and holds her back. The man holding Eleanora cocks his gun, causing her fears to escalade.

Two more men step out of the van. Before they can pull her inside, a gunshot pierces through the still night air. The man holding Eleanora falls to the side, his gun hitting the pavement of the sidewalk and going off. Without someone to hold her up, Eleanora's legs give way. Two more shots fly past her head, causing the men behind her to cry out before they fall.

The last man tries to get into the van, but four daggers are thrown and pierce the tires. He gets out and runs off. The strange figure that held Chloe back helps Eleanora to her feet. In the figure's hand is a smoking gun. "Did you-" Eleanora begins, but never finishes her thought. The figure leans her against the van, pockets the gun, and leaves without saying a word.

"Eleanora!" Clark says, running to her with Chloe and Lesley close behind. "Clark," she says, noticing that she's been crying. He holds her close, gently stroking her hair. She cries on his shoulder. "It's okay, I'm here. You're safe," he whispers to her. "You're safe," he repeats.

When Eleanora's tears subside, all four of them go to Clark's house. The feeling comes back into Eleanora's legs, along with a sudden pain that makes her cry out. "What's wrong?" Lesley asks, confused and worried. "It's… my leg," she says, through gritted teeth. Clark sets her on the couch, propping her left leg up on the coffee table. Lesley sighs, heavily, "She's been shot." Chloe bites her lip to keep from saying anything.

"She'll get an infection if the bullet isn't removed," Lesley states. "No, leave it!" Eleanora shouts out, thinking of Clark. "I promise I'll be quick about it," Lesley says, calmly. "Wait-" She feels a rush go through her body, and gasps. Her back arches and a bright, green glow engulfs her. She feels a hand on her arm.

Then, the glow vanishes as quickly as it had come. Eleanora sits up fast, no longer numb. "Hey, you okay?" Chloe asks. "What happened?" Eleanora responds, faintly. "As soon as Lesley numbed your leg, you passed out. He was afraid that you were having some kind of reaction, so he almost didn't remove the bullet. The good news is that I convinced him you were fine, so your left leg is now 100% free of bullets," Chloe informs her. "What's the bad news?" Eleanora says, dreading the answer.

"What makes you think there's bad news?" Chloe asks, though her eyes betrayed her. "Because there's always bad news when people say: 'the good news is…' " Eleanora says, knowingly. Chloe sighs, "Fine. It's Clark." "What about him? Is he all right?"

"He's fine, for the most part." Chloe replies. "I need to see him!" Eleanora insists. "See who?" Lesley asks, coming in with Clark. She jumps up and embraces Lesley, and then hugs Clark. "I'm so glad you're awake," Clark says. "Does she know yet?" Eleanora whispers in his ear. "No," he whispers back.

Something about his voice makes her suspicious. She releases him. "Why do you look so sad?" She asks. "It's nothing," he says, a bit too quickly. "It's Lana, isn't it?" Eleanora says, her heart sinking. He nods. Eleanora bites her lip. "I'm worried about her, that's all!" He insists.

A tear slips down Eleanora's cheek. "I don't love her anymore. Not since you came into my life. Now, you're all I can think about. You're my life, Nora. Everyday I race home so I can see you." He tilts her chin up with his finger. "I love you." He almost whispers the words.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey all! Sorry about the long wait, but here it is! Chapter 19! Remember to review. (C'mon, it's worth it!)**

**Chapter 19**

Eleanora smiles at Clark and they slowly lean towards each other. Chloe clears her throat in an obvious way. Eleanora blushes and breaks apart from him.

"Clark, we'd better go now or we'll _both_ miss the bus!" Chloe explains, gesturing to him.

"Okay, Chlo. I'll meet you outside. I just have to do something really quick." He replies.

"All right, but it better be 'really quick'!" She says, and goes out. Lesley is "sleeping" on the couch, but Eleanora knows he's pretending.

"Well, have fun at school Farmboy!" She says, teasing him a bit. Suddenly, he leans forward and kisses her lips.

"Clark Kent!" Chloe practically shouts at him. Eleanora breaks apart from him again.

"Coming!" He calls, grabbing his backpack. He leaves, and Eleanora recovers from her initial shock. She smiles and touches the place where Clark kissed her. Lesley gives a huge, fake yawn and stretches.

"All right, Princess. Fun's over!" He jokes.

"Oh, Les!" She looks at him, equally as teasing.

"Now, get ready for the day!" He orders, sternly.

"Yes sir!" She salutes him and goes upstairs into the bathroom. She closes the door, and turns the water on. She strips off her clothes and steps in, closing the curtain.

After her shower, she changes into a clean set of clothes. A memory comes to her, as memories do, and she thinks back to when she was 10. She was Scarlett Luthor. **(A/N: This is a flashback. Just a heads-up!)**

_"Hey Scar?" Lex asked._

"_Yes, Lex?" She replied, her dark hair fluttering around her shoulders, her pink knee-length dress fanned out with the turn._

"_I hope you don't mind that Dad got you a dance teacher." He responded._

"_No. I'm fine with my teacher, although he seems to disappear for long periods of time," she shrugged._

"_But I return," a relatively deep male voice said. Both Lex and Scarlett flinched as they saw the speaker._

_He was a tall pale man, looking to be in his mid-twenties, and he had short brown hair with brown eyes. He smiled from the doorway of the living room._

"_Hello, Scarlett!" He said, courteously._

"_Hello, Rokk. How are you?" She asked, grinning._

"_As well as ever! You look like a princess," Rokk took her hand and led her to the dance room._

"Eleanora?" Lesley says, bringing her back to Earth.

"AH!" She jumps at the sound of his voice, knocking over a soap bottle.

"Are you all right?" He asks, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." She closes her eyes, calming herself.

"Okay then. Breakfast is ready now." He informs her.

"Be down in a few," she replies. She hears his heavy footsteps go down the stairs.

She towel-dries her hair, grabs her old clothes, opens the door, and goes down to breakfast.

"How's your leg doing, Princess?" Lesley says.

"What?" She asks, distracted.

"Oh! It's completely healed," she says, sitting in a wooden chair.

As they eat their pancakes and eggs, Eleanora's mind wanders back to when Clark kissed her. Lesley's cell phone suddenly rings, startling Eleanora so much that she jumps again.

"Ow!" She exclaims, as her knee hits the underside of the table. The plates rattle with the impact.

"Gotta take this," Lesley says, though he looks worried.

Eleanora nods, biting her lip to keep from cursing.

"Hello?" He says, answering the call.

"Oh… Right now? No, I understand… Yes, sir… Yes, sir… I'll be right there." Lesley hangs up.

"Who was that?" Eleanora asks, curiously.

"Just my boss." A serious look crosses Lesley's face.

"I must leave you, Princess." He sighs, sadly.

"Why? Where are you going?" She asks, equally as sad.

"Believe me, I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately, it'll cost me more than my job if I do." He takes her hand, fatherly.

"I understand. When are you coming back?" She inquires.

"I don't know if I'll _ever_ come back. But I will be watching over you while I'm away, and I know you're in safe hands here." He's completely serious, and Eleanora can tell.

"Just promise me that you'll be careful, okay?" She says, smiling through her tears.

"I will, as long as I know _you_ will." He replies.

"I'll do my best, Les!" She promises. He pats her hand and gets up to leave.

"Wait!" She says, thinking of something.

He turns back to her.

"Take this with you," she puts her green meteor rock bracelet on his right wrist.

"This way, you'll remember me and be protected," she explains.

He smiles at her and kisses her head, "Goodbye, Princess, and thank you."

He hands her a thin envelope.

"You're ready now," he says, solemnly. She takes the envelope, confusion in her eyes. He nods at her and leaves. She waves to him and he starts up his car, driving down the driveway and out to the horizon.

Eleanora closes the door and washes the breakfast dishes. Afterwards, she notices a small package on the coffee table. Her brow furrows in deeper confusion. She decides to open the envelope first.

Inside is a small note.

It reads: "Dearest daughter, at this point of your life, you're 15 years old. By our Merinian laws, you are of age. Open the package included with this letter, and you're quest will begin. We send all of our love with this letter. Signed, King Merlin and Queen Melaney of the House of Martin."

Eleanora bites her lip and opens the package.

A velvet box, the size of her palm, falls into her lap. She opens it and sees a necklace inside. The pendant hanging from it glows a faint fuchsia color, when she touches it. She feels a surge of energy rush through her.

Her head is thrown back and she arches her back, causing her arms to stick out weirdly. A bright light engulfs her and she inhales as she brings her head down slowly. She doesn't notice that Mrs. Kent came inside while this happened, until it was over.

"Hi, Mrs. Kent!" She says, feeling awkward.

"Hi, Eleanora. What just happened?" Mrs. Kent sets down her purse.

"I have no idea," Eleanora answers, truthfully.

Mrs. Kent decides not to press the matter, so she sits down on the couch.

"I hope you don't mind that I crashed here for the night. I just didn't want to go home, in my condition." Eleanora bites her lip.

"Of course not, dear. We're always glad to have you here." Mrs. Kent smiles at her, kindly.

Suddenly, the Kent's phone rings. Mrs. Kent answers it.

"Hello? Oh, hi Jonathan! Well, yes she's here… I know, but… All right… No, tell him _not_ to get the flannel sheets… Winter's almost over, and we've got plenty of them… Of _course_ I know that, Jonathan… All right… I love you too, dear. Bye." She hangs up the phone and rejoins Eleanora on the couch.

"So, what exactly happened to you last night?" Mrs. Kent asks Eleanora.

"It's a _long_ story."

"I've got time."

"Well… All right." Eleanora sees a trustworthy look in Mrs. Kent's eyes, and relaxes. She tells Mrs. Kent about what happened 3 weeks ago up until now, leaving out certain parts on purpose. When Eleanora finishes, Mrs. Kent is quiet.

"I didn't know Clark felt so strongly about you." Mrs. Kent says, concerned.

"Neither did I." A moment's pause passes by.

Eleanora takes a deep breath and asks: "Mrs. Kent?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Why does Clark react so strangely when he's around meteor rocks?"

Mrs. Kent contemplates this.

"Well, I'm not sure what you mean." She finally says.

Eleanora sighs. "Whenever I had my meteor rock bracelet on, he always looked like he was about to be sick. Sometimes it was so bad that he passed out."

"Oh, I understand now! He's allergic to meteor rocks." Mrs. Kent says, although Eleanora raises her eyebrow in disbelief.

"Well, he won't have to worry about my bracelet anymore. I gave it to Lesley before he left."

Before either can say another word, there's a knock on the door.

"I'll get it, Mrs. Kent!" Eleanora says, already on her feet.

She goes to the door, and opens it. No one is there, but a brown package is lying on the front step. Puzzled, Eleanora goes out and gets it.

She feels like someone is watching her, but when she looks up, she only sees the vacant gravel driveway. She shrugs, and looks closer at the package. It has holes in the top and something is moving inside. She can hear a faint cooing. Eleanora closes the door, returning to Mrs. Kent.

"Who was at the door?" Mrs. Kent asks.

"No one was. Just this package. And it's a fairly large one too!" Eleanora doesn't dare to shake the package, knowing something is alive inside. She sits down on the couch again and opens the package.

"Oh my!" She and Mrs. Kent exclaim together.

The live something cries, waving its little arms in the air. The something is a baby girl, wrapped in a blue and red blanket. Eleanora's face softens. She lifts the baby out, trying to comfort her. The baby laughs at her, and then drools.

"She is just adorable!" Eleanora says, wiping the drool off with a corner of the baby blanket.

"Wonder who gave her to you?" Mrs. Kent says, and then notices an envelope. Eleanora stops making faces at the baby and looks at the envelope.

"What does it say?" Mrs. Kent asks her.

" 'The House of Kent. Smallville, Kansas, USA. Earth.' " Eleanora says, simply.

"How do you know how to read this language?"

"Must have been the necklace. Oh, a return address on the left corner. It says: 'The House of Jaze. City of Embers, Merin.' Well, that explains why I can read it!"

"Why_ can_ you read it? I can't."

"Well… The truth is, Mrs. Kent… I… Wait a moment, if I tell you the whole truth about myself, do you swear on this planet that you will never tell a single soul? Including your husband and Clark?" Eleanora asks.

"I swear, I won't even think about it!" Mrs. Kent crosses her heart.

Eleanora smiles at her.

"All right, then. I'm Scarlett Luthor. No joking here, I swear! I had to say I was dead because I'm a Royal Princess. And I'm not from Ireland, as I might have told you I was… I'm from a planet called Merin. I was born there, but my family had to move me out. I was three when I came to be with the Luthors." Eleanora sighs, glad to tell someone else about her secret.

"So… You're an alien?" Mrs. Kent asks, somewhat vaguely.

"Only half an alien. I guess this necklace gives me my full powers. You see, I gather that Merin is a nature planet, where every Merinian (if that's what they're called) has powers that have something to do with nature! Now, you know the meadow I created, back when I was Scarlett? Well, that meadow is just a part of all the crazy things I can do. However, I need to have a bit of nature that's already there, otherwise my powers are useless. Oh, and I can heal people. Even myself!" She says all this relatively quickly, but Mrs. Kent seems to follow her.

"Have you told Clark yet?" She asks.

"No. But Lana, Nell, Lesley, and Chloe know. Now you know too. You don't know how long I've been wanting to tell someone else about this!" Eleanora sighs again.

"About what?" Clark asks, closing the door.

They both freeze. The baby cries out again. Eleanora quickly opens the envelope and scans the letter, written in Merinian.

It reads: "To Her Highness Princess Rosella from the Royal House of Martin. Greetings, dear niece, our names are Lyra and Jhorn. We are your aunt and uncle from the Honorable House of Jaze. We are sorrowful with giving you our most prized possession, our year old daughter Myra. We give her to you in hopes that you will keep her safe from one who wishes to kill her. Please raise her in the ways you're accustomed to. We will return to collect her on her 20th birthday. Merin will be safe then. Wait for the sign on the 12th Earth hour that day. It will be in the morning, so do not miss it! We are forever grateful to you, your Highness. Love, Aunt Lyra and Uncle Jhorn."

Eleanora's eyes widen and she turns around to Clark.

"Hey, Farmboy! What's going on?"

"Where'd the baby come from?" He asks.

"Her name's Myra, and she's been given to me. She's my little cousin." Eleanora explains.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 20**

Myra cries again. Eleanora bites her lip, unsure of what to do. She'd never babysat before, nor had any experience with younger children.

"Has she been fed yet?" Clark says, over Myra's crying.

"I don't know! I just got her ten minutes ago!" Eleanora shushes Myra, trying to be gentle.

"Well… Let me take her for a moment," Mrs. Kent says. Eleanora sighs and kisses Myra's head.

"Wait a second! I remember hearing Nell talking about baby bottles and milk last night. She was talking to one of her friends, who has a baby just Myra's age. Do you have any baby bottles?" Eleanora says, while Myra's crying gets louder.

Clark volunteers to search for one, but Mrs. Kent shakes her head.

"Go and buy a couple. Money's on the counter!" Mrs. Kent tries to console Myra.

"There, there sweetie! You're all right!"

"Does it matter what size?" Clark asks, with one foot out of the door.

"Just go!" Mrs. Kent and Eleanora shout at him. He leaves in a blink, and then returns a few minutes later with about five different baby bottles.

"Did they have a sale on baby bottles?" Eleanora says, half-amused. Clark makes a face at her. Mrs. Kent helps to heat up a bottle of milk, while Eleanora cleans a bottle. Clark rocks Myra in his arms, very gently. A knock on the door startles them all.

"I'll go get it!" Eleanora says, exasperated. She opens the door.

"Mr. Kent, hi!" She exclaims.

"Hi, Eleanora!" Mr. Kent hears the wailing of Myra, and his brow furrows.

"What's going on?" He asks, suspiciously. Eleanora sighs and lets him in.

"Milk's heated and in the sealed bottle. Go!" Clark hands Eleanora the baby bottle and Myra.

"But… Clark!" Eleanora groans and goes to the couch.

"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" Mr. Kent asks, irritated.

"Eleanora?" Clark says.

"I'm feeding my little cousin right now! You explain!" She replies, testing the temperature of the milk and then letting Myra drink it. Clark sighs and tells his father who the baby is.

"But where did she come from?" Mr. Kent asks, regarding Myra with a watchful eye. Eleanora had finished feeding her and was now making funny faces and noises. Myra laughs, clapping her little hands together. Clark stifles a laugh, while Mrs. Kent explains that Myra had suddenly appeared on their doorstep without a reason why.

This seems to be enough for Mr. Kent because he doesn't harp on the matter.

Eleanora and Mrs. Kent work together to take care of Myra, but one thing is bugging Eleanora.

"Mrs. Kent, I think I'd better go home. But I promise I'll be a good neighbor, and not wake you up in the middle of the night for some simple baby problem." Eleanora smiles at her.

"No matter how small the problem, you can count on me to help you solve it." Mrs. Kent says, kindly.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kent."

"You're welcome, dear."

Eleanora leaves, cradling Myra in the crook of her left arm and carrying the box with the letter and baby bottles in her right arm. She kicks the door lightly with the toe of her tennis shoe, and a slightly disheveled Lana answers it. One guilty look from Eleanora tells Lana that she needs a friend.

"Aunt Nell? Ella's here, and she has… a baby girl." Lana says, looking at Myra.

"She has a baby?!" Nell pokes her head out from the kitchen.

"Oh my God! When were you pregnant?" Nell asks, shocked.

"What?! No! She's not my daughter! This is my little cousin Myra. She's from Merin, and she's under my protection. My aunt and uncle specifically told me to take care of her, and raise her. I have until her 20th birthday to tell her who she really is." Eleanora explains, simply.

"I didn't know you _had_ an uncle and aunt, much less a cousin!" Nell says, still shocked.

"Neither did I until about an hour ago, when Myra was dropped off on the Kent's doorstep." Eleanora sighs, feeling the circulation being cut off from her fingers.

"Do you mind taking the bottles and box before my hand falls off, please?" She says.

"Sorry!" Lana does as she's told.

"Thank you!" Eleanora says, groaning. Myra coos. This brings up the thing that bothered Eleanora back at the Kent's.

"Nell, is there a cradle or something that Myra could sleep in?" Eleanora asks.

"Hmm… Yes, actually, back in Lewis and Laura's room! They wanted to have Lana with them, so they knew she'd be safe. It's still there, a bit dusty but otherwise in good shape." Nell shows it to Eleanora. Myra cries out again.

"Oh, dear!" Eleanora is exhausted by now.

"I think she's tired. Why don't you go ahead and put her in the crib?" Nell kisses Myra's head, and then Eleanora's. Eleanora shrugs and follows Nell's suggestion. Myra still cries.

"What now?" Eleanora mutters to herself.

An idea suddenly comes to her. She clears her throat and sings: "Kookaburra". When she gets done with the last verse, Myra closes her eyes. Eleanora sighs, and gets up from the bed. She looks at Myra sleeping, and her heart melts.

She kisses Myra's head and tucks the red and blue blanket around her. The sun sinks past the horizon. Eleanora goes into her room, leaving the door open to listen for Myra. It occurs to her that she hasn't had anything to eat since lunch. A loud tap makes her jump.

She looks at her window, where the tap had come from. Nothing is there, but she gets up anyway. She opens the window and looks out.

"I'm down here!" Clark calls up to her. She looks down and giggles.

"What the hell are you doing here at this hour?" She asks, being careful not to be too noisy.

"Umm… Room service?" He shrugs, making another face at her. She rolls her eyes.

"You know, it's kind of hard to see you with this tree in the way." He says.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Your magic, of course!" He jokes. She laughs, and concentrates. The tree shrinks down to the ground.

"Better hold on tight, Farmboy!" She warns him. The tree shoots back up, startling Clark. He quickly grabs the trunk as the tree rises. As he rises to eye level, Eleanora sees that he's holding a picnic basket.

"Clark Kent, you are too sweet!" She lets him in. He takes out a red and white checkered blanket, a paper plate of sandwiches, two chocolate dipped strawberries, two plastic cups, and a thermos of milk.

"Clark-" He cuts her off with a kiss. She smiles at him, and takes a sandwich.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 21**

After a while, Clark gathers everything together. He stuffs all the food and blanket into the basket, along with the plates. He slips out of the window, back into the tree.

"Clark… I know this is sort of a silly question to ask you, but… What would you say if I were, you know, different?" Eleanora says, being careful about how she chooses her words.

"That depends on what you mean by 'different'." He replies, almost falling out of the tree. Eleanora giggles a bit.

"I mean, what if I wasn't… human."

"Is this all hypothetical?"

"Yeah. Of course!" Eleanora hopes he doesn't get suspicious of her would-be casual tone.

"I would probably say 'Hi' and I wouldn't talk to you any differently than I do now."

Eleanora feels a wave of relief wash over her. "Thanks! I-I mean, I would act the same way as you, if it were _your_ case."

Clark smiles at her, and slides down the tree, causing a cascade of snow to fall on his head. Eleanora laughs.

"Shhh!" Clark says, putting a finger to his lips. He smiles though. Eleanora covers her mouth, grinning.

"Good night!" Clark whisper-calls up to her.

"Good night, Farmboy!" She whisper-calls back to him, waving.

The next morning, Eleanora wakes up and realizes that it's a few weeks until Christmas. She sits bolt upright, not knowing that her blanket is over her head. She quickly tries to get out from under it and ends up falling on the floor.

"Damn it! I suck at getting out of bed smoothly." She groans as the sunlight shines in her retinas. She rolls over, facing the doorway. A strange hooded figure was there. She screams.

The figure points a bloody, gnarled hand at her and walks towards her. Its feet are covered in blood and it leaves behind bloody footprints with each step. As it gets closer, Eleanora can hear a low rasping voice saying her name repeatedly.

She's paralyzed with fear. The figure comes so close to her that she can see its face. The figure has a masculine face, although its skin is as white as salt and covered with horrible scars.

It looks straight into her scared brown eyes with its milky white ones. It grins a horrid smile, revealing its broken, crooked, rotting teeth. It laughs a spine-chilling laugh, and Eleanora screams again.

She sits bolt upright in her bed; beads of sweat trickling down her body. She breathes heavily, notices that it's still dark outside, and then realizes she cried in her sleep. It's 3:00 a.m.

"That's the last time I eat chocolate before bed!" She pants, calming her heart down.

But now, she's afraid to go back to sleep. What if that _thing_ returns to her? What if it's real? These kinds of questions race through her brain, freaking her out even more than before.

She hears a cry from the next room and leaps out of bed. Myra is stretching her little arms up.

"Shh! There, there, Myra! It's okay, I'm here. You're big cousin's right here," Eleanora holds Myra close, kissing her forehead. Just holding Myra makes her feel comforted. Eventually, Myra stops crying.

But she still isn't asleep yet. So, Eleanora sings her a lullaby. One that she didn't know she knew. It has a slow, sweet melody that's memorable.

The lyrics go something like this: "_Oh, little child, do not fear/ For your mother is always here. It doesn't matter how far/ Away you are across the stars. I will stay with you, la la loo/ And I will never, ever leave you. Hush now, my tiny one/ Your tears shine as bright as the sun. Let me comfort you/ Do not be so blue. Sweet girl of mine, sweet girl of mine/ From this moment on, let your life be divine. Sweet girl of mine, sweet girl of mine/ May you and the sun always share a shine. But most of all, dear little girl/ Remember that I love you more than anything in this wide world."_ **(A/N: I don't have a tune in mind for this song… So, if you want to send me a video of what you think the tune should sound like, I'd love that and I'll be sure to give a shout-out for you!)**

Myra falls asleep at once. Eleanora sighs, kisses her head and puts her back in her crib.

"Sleep tight, cos." She goes back to bed.

Her alarm clock rings, hours later. She hits it with her hand, misses, and the alarm clock clatters to the floor, still ringing. She groans and gets up, picking it off the floor. She yawns, throwing on her robe.

Lana rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

"Hey, Lana! How'd you sleep?"

"I've had better nights. You?"

"Terribly. I had a nightmare that caused me to wake up at three in the morning."

"Really? Do you remember what it was about, or do you not want to talk about it?"

"Honestly, I'm fine with talking about it… Umm… I'm trying to remember. All my nightmare was about was a cloaked figure with a scarred dead white face, really bad teeth, milky white eyes, and bloody hands and bare bloody feet. Oh, and I think it was saying my name, but in this super creepy and scary gravelly voice. I nearly died from fright!" Eleanora feels her fear come back to her as she remembers the _thing_. (If anyone asks Eleanora what the scariest thing she's ever seen is, she says it's the thing she saw in her nightmare when she was about 15 years old.)

"Whoa! That literally sent a shiver down my spine! Sorry you had to see that horrible thing." Lana hugs Eleanora.

"But then Myra cried out last night and I sang her a lullaby. I had sweet dreams after that."

"Maybe Myra has a secret comforting power," Lana says, in a mock-spooky voice.

"Oh, shut up!" Eleanora teases, laughing. They both go down stairs for breakfast.


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry for the delay, but life gets in the way of things. Please Review and make my day! Absolutely NO flaming!**

**Chapter 22**

"Good morning, you two!" Nell says, flipping pancakes.

"Morning!" Eleanora and Lana say together.

"There's pancakes on your plates, eat up champs!"

"Will do!" They respond. Eleanora yawns and sits down. After their breakfast, she decides to visit Clark before he goes to school. It seems that Clark has the same idea because he meets her halfway. She grins and runs into his arms. He catches her and gives her a kiss.

"I never got the chance to thank you for last night," she says, still hugging him.

"I never got the chance to say 'you're welcome'," he replies, smiling. She makes a face at him and they kiss again. A loud honk from the bus tells both of them that Clark needs to go.

"Love you, Clark!"

"Love you too, Nora!" He says, running off.

"You two make a cute couple." Nell says, putting her hand on Eleanora's shoulder.

"Thank you, Nell." Eleanora smiles at her.

"Come on, little lovebug! I'll get you set up." She escorts her back inside. After Eleanora finishes her school day, she hears the high-pitched squeal of the returning bus and the rumble as it leaves. She grins and runs out the door, her brown hair flying behind her and her shirt ripples. Clark smiles as he catches her in his arms and twirls her around.

"How was school?" She asks after he sets her down.

"Usual; I couldn't wait to get home."

"I'm glad to see you, Farmboy!" She laughs. He kisses her.

"All right, you two, break it up. Clark, you promised to do your chores when you got home." Mr. Kent says, handing Clark a sack.

"Thanks, Dad. I'll get to it right away." Clark smiles at Eleanora and leads her inside the barn.

"Wanna help me out?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" She grins and takes a sack from him. He chuckles.

"Nora, you're different then I thought you'd be."

"What do you mean by 'different'?"

"I thought you'd be someone who wouldn't want to get their hands dirty."

"You _really_ don't know me then." She says, opening the sack.

"Hey," he takes her in his arms before he continues. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Clark, I'm fine."

"Nora…"

"I just want to get these chores done, okay?" She sighs, turning away from him. He lets her go, reluctantly. She starts putting fresh hay into the horses' stalls. One of them nuzzles her cheek. She smiles and gently strokes its white nose. She and Clark don't speak for a few hours.

"Nora?" He asks, tentatively. She looks at him, sleepily.

"Yeah, Clark?"

"I'm sorry."

"Why're _you_ sorry? You weren't the one being a bitch." She hides her face by turning to the wall. A hand is placed on her shoulder. She turns around and meets Clark's sweet warm lips. She wraps her arms around his neck as he lifts her up.

"Nora?" He asks, pulling away from her.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."  
>"I know." She grins before she goes inside. He chuckles and follows her. She ends up staying there overnight. The next morning, she yawns, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Getting up, she keeps her eyes closed. When she opens her eyes, she gasps. Her bed is suspended about fifty feet above the Kent's house.<p>

"What the hell is going on?" She asks.

"Nora?" Clark asks, appearing beside her.

"You're flying?" She says.

"Yes, now listen to me very closely. Take my hand."

"What?" She breathes.

"Please, trust me on this. I won't let you fall, I promise." He looks at her with his blue eyes and she believes him. Reaching out her shaking hand, she lets him take it. Her bed crashes through the roof but she lands safely on the ground. She leans forward and meets his lips again. His hands land on her waist and then to her thighs, as hers wrap around his shoulders.

"Ella?" Lana asks, putting her hand on Eleanora's shoulder and shaking her. Eleanora gasps, waking up, and turns to Lana.  
>"Hey, Lana. What're you doing here?"<p>

"I'm worried about you, and Nell is too. You haven't come around for days."

"What're you talking about?"

"You passed out here at the Kent's for a whole week." Lana says, as the sun starts setting.

"What? That's impossible! I just went to sleep last night."

"Ella, I don't know what's gotten into you lately. You're scaring me."

"Lana, I promise you I'm not crazy."

"I know you aren't… Here, I brought you some food. You must be starving!"

"Thanks!" Eleanora takes the offered sandwich and chips. Lana hands her a water bottle. They continue to talk as she eats.

"Why does food taste so wonderful?"

"Guess you're not used to it, since you've been fasting for a week." Lana smiles at her.

"Guess so… God, you'll never believe the dream I was just having!"

"Oooh! _Do _tell!" Lana leans forward.

"Not _here_! I don't want to be overheard. C'mon, let's go back home." Eleanora blushes and leads her back.

"Soooo… What was the dream?" Lana asks, sitting on her bed. Eleanora locks the door before she continues.

"It was about Clark and me."

"And?"

"Well…" Eleanora says, bright red.

"_No!_" Lana laughs, playfully shoving her.

"What? It was _just_ a dream!"

"Then it must have been _some_ dream."

"It was an interesting one, that's for sure." Eleanora falls back on her pillow.

"We'll talk more tomorrow. I'm gonna get some sleep, what about you?"

"Nah, I had my fill. Good night, Lana."

"Night, Ella!" She snuggles into her blankets and falls asleep.


End file.
